Our Scorecard Methodology
We scored 119 North American furniture retailers in 2024. Our methodology focused on information available in the public domain on corporate websites regarding wood sourcing policies, goals and practices. However, knowing that companies may not disclose all that they are doing to exercise corporate social responsibility, we also reached out individually to each company we scored to make sure we didnāt miss anything, as well as to convey the importance of forest health, the influence of their purchasing decisions, and the positive market signal they send by making their policies public.
We offered recommendations, information and resources for creating and implementing a robust wood sourcing policy, including the elements necessary to ensure that the company is effectively addressing, rather than adding to, the problem of deforestation and forest degradation.
| Responsible Wood Sourcing Policy | Points |
|---|---|
| Responsible wood sourcing policy is available via company (the ābrandā) website | 3 |
| Policy has commitment to avoid sourcing illegal and/or controversial wood (conversion, high conservation values, conflict timber, wood harvesting in violation of indigenous or community rights) | 2 |
| Policy includes commitment to source certified wood ā any certification system | 2 |
| Policy includes preference for FSCĀ® certified (over other certification systems) and/or preference for reclaimed/recycled wood | 2 |
| POINTS POSSIBLE: SUB-TOTAL | 9 |
| Responsible Sourcing Practices & Performance | Points |
|---|---|
| Company publishes quantitative progress on responsible wood sourcing, publicly reporting on company website | 1 |
| Company publishes quantitative progress on responsible wood sourcing, including percentages of FSC Certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood, publicly reporting on company website | 2 |
| Company publishes quantitative FUTURE targets for responsible wood sourcing, including targets for FSC Certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood, publicly reporting on company website | 3 |
| 3rd party verification of public reporting | 2 |
| Company reports more than 50% of wood is sourced from the U.S. | 2 |
| Company reports more than 25% of wood furniture purchased or sold is certified under any certification system, reclaimed/recycled wood, and/or acceptable plantation wood | 2 |
| For the following, scoring is based on company size: Smaller company = Minimum $500,000 to $25M in annual sales Larger company = over $25M in annual sales | |
| Smaller company reports more than 25% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood, OR Larger company reports more than 10% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood | 3 |
| Smaller company reports more than 50% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood, OR Larger company reports more than 25% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood | 3 |
| Smaller company reports more than 75% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood, OR Larger company reports more than 50% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood | 3 |
| Smaller company reports more than 90% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood Larger company reports more than 75% of wood furniture purchased or sold is FSC certified and/or reclaimed/recycled wood | 3 |
| POINTS POSSIBLE: SUB-TOTAL | 24 |
| Additional Actions | Points |
|---|---|
| Visibly offers recycled/reclaimed wood furniture for sale on website and found through the website’s search feature | 2 |
| Visibly offers for sale on website wood furniture certified under any forest certification system and found through the website’s search feature | 2 |
| Visibly offers FSC-certified wood furniture for sale on website and found through the website’s search feature | 2 |
| Company demonstrates progress in responsible wood sourcing under the Scorecard framework | 2 |
| Company fails to demonstrate progress in responsible sourcing under the Scorecard framework | -2 |
| POINTS POSSIBLE: SUB-TOTAL | 8 |
TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE
41
Companies scored using the above methodology are recognized as follows:
| Top Scorer | 30+ points |
| High Scorer | 19-29 points |
| Most improved | Awarded points are <19 Awarded to companies that earn at least 10 points more than they have earned in previous years, though less than the threshold for High Score |
