Get the facts, share the facts with your customers on the environmental benefits of using wood:
- According to the U.S. Forest Service, there were 119 percent more hardwood trees in 2007 than in 1953, with the growth-to-removal ratio of 2.00 (two new trees for every one removed). Want more good news? Each year 1.7 billion trees are planted in the United States – more than five trees for every man, woman and child in America – an average of 4.8 million seedlings each day. (From the U.S. Forest Service.)
- U.S. industry harvests just 42% of the annual growth in hardwood timber that is biologically available to harvest. This is like using 42% of the interest/dividends you receive on your investments in any given year, without touching the principal. In fact, every year more trees die and rot in the woods than are removed by the industry.
- Wood continues to outpace the demand for other materials in the pallet market. According to the most recent pallet user survey conducted by Modern Materials Handling, wood continues to dominate with 95 percent of respondents reporting that they use wooden pallets at their facility. Since their previous survey, 32 percent of respondents say they have acquired more used wooden pallets, and that same number has plans to acquire more used wooden pallets for their operation. Only 17 percent report an expectation of using fewer used wooden pallets in the next two years.
- According to the European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB) there are more than three billion wood pallets in circulation within the European Union, 1 billion units of lightweight packaging and several billion units of industrial wood packaging every year – and many more being used internationally. Alongside boxes, crates and other packaging, these are essential to the smooth movement of goods around the world. It is truly packaging from nature.
- Fifty-three percent of the water supply of the 48 contiguous states originates in forests. Keeping forests healthy reduces infrastructure costs to cities and towns. (USDA Forest Service Technical Report PNW-GTR-795)
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