Forest products' impact on a changing climate

The forestry and forest products industries have been fighting climate change for many years. As carbon from our industrialized world is emitted into the atmosphere, our forests have been quietly absorbing it. When trees from our forests are processed into lumber, carbon is captured and stored for years in our homes, structures and even furniture. 

While most of us would understand that trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere, we may not be as aware that once a tree is harvested and processed into lumber, carbon is effectively being stored in the wood. As a result, our homes, kitchen cabinets, floors, dining room sets, bedroom sets and decks are all carbon storage banks. In this way, wood products are extremely important in the fight against climate change. 

Carbon is stored in a piece of harvested wood until that piece of wood is destroyed. In the case of a home or a piece of furniture, that could mean the carbon is stored for many years. Antique furniture, for example, is storing carbon that was absorbed from the atmosphere decades or even hundreds of years before.

The Sawmill Division of J.D. Irving, Limited takes it even one step further. We produce the lumber to build homes as well as the value added products which sequester carbon, while also working as décor pieces which you can read about here.

If you're interested in learning more about sustainability in our forest value chain, visit our sustainability page here.