Our Commitment to Sustainability
Wood floors have been used in homes for centuries, and it’s apparent why. Wood floors are beautiful, durable, and cost-effective. But there’s another benefit wood flooring offers over modern alternatives such as carpet or linoleum: sustainability.
Wood flooring is biodegradable, recyclable, and a great carbon sink. All of these benefits stem from one of the most sustainable resources on the planet: our forests. Across the United States, and particularly here in Missouri where we source our lumber, hardwood forests are growing more than twice as fast as they are being harvested. Thanks to this commitment to sustainable forestry, there is 90% more hardwood growing today in the U.S. than there was 50 years ago.
Wood flooring is also among the least energy-intensive materials, consuming far less energy to make than carpet, composite tiles, or linoleum. And for Smith Flooring, much of that energy consumption is fed by our own supply. We’ve been producing our own electricity from boilers fed by wood pellets made from our very own sawdust and mill scraps since the 1950’s, when family patriarch Viandel Smith had one installed.
But beyond manufacturing processes and generating our own energy, there’s still one other vital area that our conservation efforts address: forestry itself. Smith Flooring is a proud charter member of the National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) Responsible Procurement Program, which aims to promote sustainable forestry practices among both harvesters and manufacturers. As demonstration of this commitment, Smith Flooring only purchases raw materials from individuals and companies who practice sustainable forestry. We even manage our own small parcel of forested land, with sustainability as the driving force behind the land’s use.
At Smith Flooring, we clearly see the forests and the trees. We operate our business with an environmental ethic that is second to none. We have to. After all, our kids and grandkids are counting on us.
