It's a complex subject, especially with respect to rare woods. It would be far more simple if the rainforests weren't being wastefully burned to make room for cattle, or devoured by the Chinese furniture industry. But in those cases, increasing demand for timber may add pressure to manage the living forests intelligently, and making music out of at least a little bit of the wood is a more worthy use (in my biased opinion) than a simple cabinet, table, or bed frame that works just as well in farmed pine, and at most veneered if it really has to look fancy. But sometimes I do wonder if my life would be better put to use solving the problems that lead to destruction of forests, rather than building instruments out of them.
Certainly using local woods, especially salvaging logs that would otherwise be chopped up for firewood, is much more clearly good and honorable than getting involved in exotics. Lots of black walnut and osage orange around here to work with.
Another good strategy, as well as for life in general, is to share housing as much as possible. Divide the impact of heating and air conditioning, which is very nice for comfort aside from building. Humidify a small area in the winter. I do have a couple months out of the year where it's too cool to AC but too humid to glue though, so I'll have to add either a dehumidifier or hot box for that if I can't improve my timing to have lots of glue-free work lined up for it.
For finishing, I prefer French polishing for my own health (not that alcohol is entirely harmless) as well as the very small amount of material used, which is even biodegradable. Granted, at my production rate, nothing I do can cause that much trouble
If you live in a decent sized city, impact of shipping is lessened due to the volume of stuff being brought in and driven around town for delivery anyway. Remember it still burns fuel to drive around town yourself, and for materials to be shipped to stores, so being included on the UPS route (or having the package come along with your regular mail) may actually save energy. Packing materials are a great evil of personal packages though. Styrofoam peanuts are the worst, but I've gotten boxes with ridiculous amounts of packing paper or bubble wrap in them as well. It pains me every time I shove a big bunch of material into a trash bag. Reusing is best.
I also use almost pure hand tools within my own shop. I mostly buy pre-dimensioned top/back/side sets, neck blanks, bridge blanks, etc. so those did all involve energy use to cut from the trees, but likely less than if I was doing it myself in small batches, and eliminates the need for yet another set of big saws and sanders to be manufactured for me to own. But that decision is also simply because I dislike working with dangerous and noisy and space-taking power tools.
Lastly, compost your wood chips
Padma
![[clap]](./images/smilies/smiley32.gif "adulations")
2) buy trees. Yup you can buy trees. I own 100 mahogany trees that are a few years old in Costa Rica. I plan on buying more. I know the guy who runs the operation down there and here is his business plan. He grows trees for people to invest in. Once the trees mature he cuts them down and sells the lumber. Then the area is replanted with native species and left indefinitely never to be cut again. So essentially he is reforesting while also creating investments, lumber and jobs. ![[uncle]](./images/smilies/surrenderflagqv6.gif "Uncle")
