I choked on my coffee, projecting toast crumbs and marmalade across the kitchen. Blood pressure shot up and the cat went and hid under the stairs at the commotion.
It had been a relaxing Saturday morning. Then Sandi Toksvig, presenter of Radio 4’s travel programme Excess Baggage, ruined it. Interviewing the producer of the “Jungle” edition of the BBC‘s Attenborough blockbuster Planet Earth, she said she was doing her bit to combat rainforest destruction by not buying hardwood. Not non-certified hardwood, not even tropical hardwood, but hardwood full stop. Adding insult to injury, the producer, Huw Cordey, seemed to think this was appropriate.
Naturally a disgusted of Tunbridge Wells e-mail was soon winging its way to Ms Toksvig, but the damage was done and the wrong-headed message was out there.
The good news this week is that a consortium of timber industry organisations has launched a collaborative venture which should help ensure this kind of misunderstanding and disinformation is nipped in the bud. Wood for Gold is a PR and lobbying initiative designed to secure the timber industry a prominent role in supplying construction projects for the 2012 London Olympics. The Games organisers have stated that they aim to make the event “sustainable” and “carbon neutral”, so they’re a potentially huge opportunity for using wood.
Wood for Gold also views the project as a chance to get across the positive messages about timber and the reality of the industry’s environmental performance to a wider audience. It wants to see timber used extensively throughout the Olympics site and for the latter to feature an “exemplar” wood-based building. If it succeeds, the industry will have a lasting PR and educational tool and I should be able to enjoy Saturday mornings in peace.
