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Here at The Acoustic Shoppe we are committed to doing our part to support the sustainable, environmentally-responsible harvest of woods used in the making of instruments.
The baseline for responsible wood harvesting was created by The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC). The organization is an independent, not for profit, non-government organization established to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. At the core is the tracking of the chain of control on woods. Turns out that over the years some woods have been sold as something they are not. The chain of control is vital to verifying origins.
On a global level, guitar companies have recognized the need to invest in this concept. Brands such as Breedlove, Eastman, Gibson, Martin, and Weber have done an excellent job of focusing on this concept. Bedell Guitars is at the forefront of this movement.
Bedell selects wood partners that share a commitment to preserving the forests and certify that the tonewood supplied conforms to the Bedell Tonewood Certification Project principles. These principles demand that the Bedell wood management team verifies these claims and makes periodic site visits to confirm compliance. Additionally, the Bedell Wood Library code system tracks chain-of-custody and legal documentation for every piece of wood in their library.
The Acoustic Shoppe is bringing awareness to the idea of sustainable guitar building to our customers.
Through our research we have determined what instruments meet our “Shoppe Sustainable” mission. At the most basic level that includes the responsible harvest, and reforestation of woods used in guitar making.
As we educate our customers on this concept, we have added green tags on certain instruments that meet our Shoppe Sustainable threshold. Additionally, our staff is quite knowledgeable on our mission and will explain each of those instruments in more detail.
In 2022 we will be adding additional content, both in our store and digitally, to further advance our Shoppe Sustainable mission.
We carry many brands of guitars and those manufacturers have varying degrees of commitment. That said, we anticipate this trend to permeate most all brands as a socially responsible consumer creates demand.
Promoting and selling instruments that we have documented as adhering to our sustainability mission is just part of our Shoppe Sustainable journey.
Beyond that, we have also created somewhat of a carbon offset program. For every guitar that we sell that carries a green tag we will plant one tree in return. Conversely, if you buy a guitar from us that we cannot verify or suspect that it has not been harvested in keeping within our sustainability standards, we will plant five trees.
The cool part is we are working with a charity organization, One Tree Planted, that facilitates the tree planting for us. We get to select what type, and where, we want trees planted on our behalf. It costs us one dollar to plant one tree.
We know we aren’t necessarily changing the world, but within our little world, it’s a step towards helping our circle of influence understand where the tonewoods come from and how valuable of a resource those woods are. And absolutely the need to proliferate the regeneration of trees such as mahogany, spruce and redwood.
Interestingly enough, using woods harvested under the sustainability guidelines only raises the cost to the manufacturer by about two dollars per instrument. A very low cost considering the impact.
Over the years we have all purchased instruments and did not consider where that wood for that instrument came from. Thanks to people like Tom Bedell, we know have an industry wide awareness and socially responsible plan when it comes to these woods.
Bedell even goes as far as to sharing all his research on tonewood harvesting. He is an open book for other manufacturers. However, it will likely take an outcry from the consumer in terms of demanding that the sustainability of these woods is a priority for all companies manufacturing instruments with these valuable woods.
Our current efforts are just the steppingstone to where we are headed. Our ultimate goal is to get to full sustainability. There are other things we can all do such as utilizing solar power and recycling to help the overall cause.
For now, we are starting with our Shoppe Sustainable mission. We hope you will embrace the initiative … and take the journey with us.
For more information, give us a call at 417-720-1223, shoot us an email at info@theacousticshoppe.com, or stop by our showroom at 1913 E Seminole St. in Springfield, Missouri.
