Environmental Commitment

Birch & Willow celebrates nature through creating peaceful lighting. We also make every effort to recycle, reduce, and reuse as much as possible. On this page you will find some of the ways that Birch & Willow is committed to the environment.

At Birch & Willow our Environmental Policy is a work in progress reflecting the on-going efforts government agencies and non-profit groups,product design and manufacturing industries, and the building and interior design worlds to develop comprehensive and accountable green design and manufacturing processes. While standards for manufacturing footprints and ecolabeling are being developed and standardized, Birch & Willow maintains our long tradition of environmentally friendly self-assessment.

To learn more about ecolabeling, please visit:

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) web site: http://www.iere.org/ISO14000.html

Greenseal web site: http://www.greenseal.org
At this time, Greenseal has not developed environmental standards for "electrical lighting applications". The availablity of Greenseal Standards for Birch & Willow products is two to three+ years in the future.

Global Ecolabeling Network web site: http://www.gen.gr.jp/eco.html

Earthscape.org web site: http://www.earthscape.org/p1/gbe01/gbe01_18.html

Environmentally-Friendly Manufacturing
Lamp making materials	At Birch & Willow, we only use environmentally conscientious manufacturing processes. We use high levels of recyclable natural materials. All of our finishes and adhesives are water-based, and we use only natural patinas. We clean our lamps with natural materials, and use natural products whenever possible throughout the entire manufacturing process.
Recycling Packing Materials
Birch & Willow packages and ships lamps using materials and boxes that have been previously used once, twice, or even three times by either ourselves or other businesses or individuals. This results in some unconventional looking packaging, but it allows us to recycle and reuse materials that otherwise would have been discarded. We encourage you to recycle and/or reuse the packing material you receive from us. All plastic bags can be recycled at your local recycle center and/or supermarket. Dispose of, recycle, or reuse our packaging materials responsibly. After you have unpacked your Birch & Willow lamps, you are welcome to return the packing material and box to us for reuse. Call the Plastic Loose Fill Council's Peanut Hotline to locate a business in your area that accepts plastic loose fill or packing peanuts for recycling or reuse: 800-828-2214.		Recycled packing materials
In-Studio Recycling
Studio recycling bins	At Birch & Willow, we recycle everything we possibly can - paper, plastics, bottles, metal, cardboard, etc. We dispose of hazardous materials, such as paint, spray cans, and computer parts, properly and responsibly. We print in-studio documents on the back of used paper. We reuse containers, cardboard, bags, and studio construction materials to the fullest extent.