Glass building manufacturer helps create first sustainable forests in West Africa

Marston & Langinger, a designer and producer of conservatories, garden rooms, and other glass buildings, has helped to create the first “green” forests in West Africa, and attain certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Company founder and design director Peter Marston personally lobbied the Republic of Congo government to ensure reforestation and helped to gain FSC certification for hardwood suppliers in the region.

“We pressed suppliers in Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, and Cameroon to develop FSC forestry management [as well], but they were serving a market that, even now, sees sustainable forestry as little more than fancy marketing. We believe that by publicizing that we’ll only buy FSC, we’ll change attitudes,” explains Marston. Prior to FSC intervention in the region, hardwood from West Africa had been illegally or irresponsibly logged.

The company typically harvests about one million dollars of sapele hardwood from the world’s second-largest rain forest, the Kabo forest in the Republic of Congo. The trees will be carefully felled with a minimum of damage to the surrounding woodland, and new trees of the same species will be planted to replace them. The company also imports certified American tulipwood when durability is not a priority.

In addition to its FSC-certification requirement, Marston & Langinger has other environmentally-friendly policies in place. These include using sawdust and shavings from the manufacturing process to heat the company factory; developing water-based, nontoxic paints that comply with VOC levels for 2007 and 2010; using high-performance insulated glass; issuing salesmen-only hybrid cars for business use; and adhering to a strict, companywide recycling policy.

“A good, well-managed environmental policy has less impact on profitability than generally claimed,” says Marston. “[You need to] make it work for your organization. Everybody needs to follow suit.” Marston & Langinger, New York City.

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