Hi..

I came across this website http://www.buyerbefair.org while doing some research on the net! The name struck a note.. While we, as consumers, certainly focus on the responsibility of the sellers (companies producing and selling various goods) we seem to miss the other side _ The responsibility of the consumers..

Well.. What about it? As most of you might be aware, the marketing departments of various companies are always looking for opportunities or ‘Gaps’ in the market place. A need, a desire of the consumers which can be profitably tapped to make money. There is nothing wrong in it! However, sometimes the greed overtakes the conscious even if the business organisation might know that the product created to fulfil the desire may do more harm than good.

So, here our responsibility as a consumer and specifires (Architects and Designers) steps in. Just think for a moment. How would it be like if people really took a little bit of time to find out how their consumption habits are impacting themselves and people they love? For example:

# Did you know that over 80% of the wood being harvested today for various uses (around the world) is illegal?

# Did you know that building & construction industry uses quiet a lot of it?

# Did you know how many ‘Football field sizes of forests are being destroyed’ every minute?

# Did you know the enormous amount of devastation it causes in the tropical rain forests around the world and how the lives of people directly dependent on these forests gets destroyed because of the demand by the consumers?

# Did you know how you and me and our children and our parents and our friends have to live in an ever increasing polluted, dirty and unsafe environment because of the above and many diseases, crimes are a direct result of such activities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_logging?

I do not mean to be a preacher or sound clichéd or get you into fearbut the above is a fact and a big problem. My idea was to bring this up so as to raise awareness on the subject and it is a documented fact that when educated, most reasonable people would make the extra effort to do the right thing. We, the Span Floors team, at our end have committed ourselves to only sell products of cos. which use wood from certified forests. One of the most important certifications in this sector are FSC http://www.fsc.org/about-fsc.html and PEFChttp://www.pefc.org/resources/videos and all Span floors brands confirm to these certifications.

To sum up: # Support people or companies engaging in responsible business practices.

# Do not just go by claims. Observe and check for yourself. Advertisements and press releases sometimes are motivated and can be purchased.

# Take the time to find out and know more. Who knows what problem it may save you from in the future.

Until next time..

Satinder