Why Buying British Firewood Helps Sustainability

Sustainability is a 'buzzword' people hear and read a lot of, but not everyone knows exactly what this means when it comes to matters like sourcing sustainable firewood.

The simple answer, according to the government, is that it can come down to a few specific points:

• Forests are replenished, which means that for every tree cut down, at least one is planted
• Planting a diverse mix of climate-proof trees keeps stocks replenished
• Felling creates spaces with lots of natural light to encourage new growth
• Woodlands are managed to remain healthy

These principles focus on trees as stores of carbon, as well as forestry as a provider of sustained employment.

How Much Of Our Wood Is Produced Domestically?

However, while all this relates to how forestry operates in the UK, with Forestry Commission rules to back it up, there is a problem. According to 2024 figures, only around a quarter of the wood products used in the UK are sourced domestically, with most being imported.

This creates an immediate and obvious issue because importing wood means it has to travel further, which means a higher carbon footprint. Moreover, we can be quite sure that not everything coming in from abroad has been produced as sustainably as wood in the UK.

That is where we can help out. Not only do we produce our wood from forests here in Sussex, which operate under sustainability principles, but these are all located within ten miles of our yard.

That means you can be certain the wood is sustainable and it has not been imported, which means a low carbon footprint and supporting UK employment. A thousand years ago, Britain was mostly covered in forest. Nowadays, the UK has one of the lowest levels of forest cover in Europe, at just 13 per cent. That means we may continue to import the majority of our wood, unless and until more forests are established.

Despite this, however, you can buy your firewood British, local and sustainably today.

• by Admin