It’s common knowledge that Little Partners places eco-friendliness front and center for all our products for toddlers, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards in the industry. From our signature Learning Towers to our easels and storage, we select all-natural materials for our toddler furniture and never use any harmful ingredients that might damage the environment our kids will inherit one day.
That means the finishes we use on our products are also beautiful and non-toxic, but what about the wood itself? Where does it come from, and how do we ensure it’s harvested with sustainable practices in mind?
The answer is the Forest Stewardship Council. This incredible organization helps businesses like us ensure that the wood we use is always responsibly sourced. Little Partners is proud to be one of their 50,000 certified manufacturers, and we’re excited to tell you what this means for our families!
What Is the Forest Stewardship Council?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was formed in 1993 in response to rampant tropical deforestation that was irreversibly damaging more than half the world’s forests. Between irresponsible management and illegal exploitation, it was clear that a new international regulating body would be required to set standards and issue certifications—and the FSC was born!
Why FSC Certification Matters
One of the most important ways they pursue their global strategy to save our forests is by issuing certifications for manufacturers like Little Partners. Achieving this accolade requires a rigorous process to ensure that all the wood we use—from big pieces to the tiniest scraps—only comes from FSC-approved sources.
They guarantee this by carefully tracking the wood’s chain of custody from its source to our door. Additionally, they ensure that the products that we sell to customers are packaged and distributed with materials that meet their standards.
Here’s the journey of every piece of wood that goes into our toddler furniture:
- Materials only come from FSC-certified sources, including reclaimed wood.
- All FSC-certified materials are tracked through the manufacturing and distribution process.
- All documentation must be preserved to maintain certification.
What these standards mean is that we can tell you with confidence that the product your family brings into its home is creating a sustainable balance with Mother Nature so your child will have a wonderful, healthy planet to inherit.
Additional Benefits of FSC Certification
The FSC isn’t just protecting the Earth—it’s looking out for all the people who live on it as well. The organization also enforces some of the strictest ethical standards for the workers who collect and process the wood. At no point can any FSC-certified materials be:
- Involved with child labor.
- Handled through discriminatory employment or occupations.
- Processed by organizations that prohibit collective bargaining or freedom of association.
Does everything that goes into FSC certification take extra work and cost a little more? Absolutely, and we’re happy to pay! We wouldn’t put a product in our child’s hands that didn’t meet these standards, which is why we won’t put one in yours either.
What Else Can We Do for the Forests?
If you look at Little Partners’ list of certifications, you’ll see the Arbor Day Foundation logo right next to the FSC. We can proudly display this credential because we partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation in 2022 to plant 5000 trees in some of South Carolina’s hardest-hit forest areas.
One of our favorite sustainable woods for all our toddler furniture is pine, and we source it from a variety of healthy ecosystems approved by the FSC. However, the longleaf pine in South Carolina has been severely overforested, and it has damaged vital habitats for several rare species including the gopher tortoise and red-cockaded woodpecker.
We invested in turning the tide for over 70 tracts of land throughout South Carolina, and it’s helping to bring the longleaf pine back so generations of young people can celebrate and experience these wonderful environments for years to come.
How Can I Get Involved?
Both the FSC and the Arbor Day Foundation accept charitable donations to support their good work—so please give! If you’re a business owner, you can seek certification like we did, or contact FSC Investments & Partnerships, the global organization’s nonprofit branch that accepts individual and business donations and connects with companies to make a difference.
For the Arbor Day Foundation, you can make a general donation to the cause to support all their activities or contribute directly to planting a tree through their Rain Forest or Angel’s Envy initiatives.
Growing Better Products for Your Family
We’re proud to continue our commitment to the environment through our certification processes and partners, and we’re always on the lookout for more ways to make a difference. Even if your child never hears our story, the Learning Tower that’s helping them take those big steps up in the world is whispering to them that it’s still going to be there when they grow up.
That’s our promise to our families with every piece of toddler furniture we build, and we’re going to keep making it again and again. Read more about our commitment to safety, durability, independence, creativity, and mindfulness about this beautiful world we all share.