Sat in front of my woodstove this Christmas, warm and cosy, it got me thinking about where the woodfuel I was burning had come from.
It’s a good question and one that wouldn’t have really crossed my mind until I started working with Woodsure – a certification scheme which assures the quality and sustainability of woodfuel for UK homeowners and industry.
Like me you might be surprised to know that a quarter of the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of woodfuel we use in the UK every year to heat our homes, is estimated to be poor quality.
So what does this mean for the homeowner? Put simply every time we burn poor quality woodfuel we’re effectively burning our hard earned cash, and in some cases damaging UK air quality. So for us homeowners who fitted a stove to reduce our carbon footprint, we could actually be doing the opposite.
With over 1 million homes in the UK having a woodstove it’s an important message that we’ve been helping Woodsure communicate to the public and trade industry.
In most cases it’s pretty much impossible to identify poor quality woodfuel just by looking at it. This is why Woodsure is such an important scheme. For the first time it enables consumers, like you and I, to make informed choices.
I’d always assumed that the woodfuel I sourced from my local supplier was from British woodland on the edge of town, where the trees cut down are replaced. And the issue of quality had never entered my mind. But now I can see the wood for the trees.
So next time you buy your woodfuel choose a Woodsure certified supplier to guarantee you’re getting quality woodfuel from well managed woodland. And if you want the added comfort of knowing it was sourced locally from British woodland, just look for the Grown in Britain logo too. While you’re toasting your toes next to the fire you can be proud that you’re supporting your local economy and the growth of our much loved woodlands.
