Those who buy a product are increasingly more informed and conscious of the importance of preserving our natural heritage and increasingly more willing to carry out an active role in environmental protection. These people want to know whether the object they are purchasing has been manufactured in compliance with a philosophy and a production process that respects the environment and protects the health of Man. Many companies call their products “ecological”, but “ecological” means “no environmental impact” and we know very well that nothing constructed by man has no impact at all on the environment. Due to the fact that there is no such thing as a law that establishes parameters to define a product as “ecological”, industries can use this adjective at will, and this creates confusion and mistrust in the consumer. Therefore, for clarity and to develop a critical conscience, a purchaser of consumer goods must gather information to understand whether the product concerned has really been designed and constructed respecting the environment. For centuries, profit has been the main aim of industries. The consequence is that important aspects such as product quality, safety and non-toxicity have been overlooked. Therefore, respect for the environment and for Man, which should be the first concern of a company towards the world and its inhabitants, is not often translated into actions that are worthy of mention. All this has resulted in an abnormal consumption of resources, the pollution of the earth, of water and of the air and the accumulation of a large debt with nature that grows exponentially to the detriment of future generations. Practical and ethical reasons impose a U-turn in order to transform the destructive economy of the industrial era into a new way of conceiving the production of goods and services that contemplates the recovery of our planet’s health and improves the quality of our life. Valcucine has been pursuing the satisfaction of the consumer’s needs for years by continuous and in-depth research into ecologically-sustainable design (green design). This means planning and manufacturing durable, recyclable, dematerialised products having very low toxic emissions, or even none at all, and that do not use wood coming from primary forests. Clean Up the World is a community based environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communities from every corner of the globe to clean up, fix up and conserve their environment. Now in its 18th year, Clean Up the World, held [...]

Today is Blog Action Day! We want to take part to it by analysing the causes of global warming, as the more we know about it, the more we get aware of its risks and be able to act against it. Global warming is one of today’s major plagues of the Earth planet and its inhabitants. But what is global warming? So, should we prevent global warming or should we use our resources and skills to adapt to its effects? There is a current debate about this that reveals two different approaches. The first, mitigation, is about limiting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the atmosphere mostly by reducing human polluting activities. An example for this is the Kyoto Protocol. The second approach, adaptation, is about diminish society’s weakness to the consequences of global warming. With the term ‘global warming’ we refer to the long-term set of changes affecting the planet’s climate, that is the overall increasing of the Earth’s temperature. As all living species depend on climate trends, global warming is a phenomenon affecting everybody. Global warming directly influences the climate trends, so that it determines the rise in the number of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, heat waves and droughts. Besides, the natural habitats, the biodiversity, and the overall quality of life are at risk. It is therefore important to understand the risky situation characterising out planet today. To do that, let’s now make a list of the different effects of global warming. DISAPPEARING OF FORESTS According to recent studies, only in the last 30 years the human activities have destroyed almost a third of the forests. As a matter of fact, about 10% of the planet’s land area is still intact forest, the boreal forest and the tropical rainforest. The forest loss directly influence the loss of biodiversity. LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY The planet Earth is characterised by a wide diversity of living species, the biodiversity. Therefore, the Earth has an inestimable value, recognized by all human cultures around the world. Natural biodiversity has many implications and has to be protected. The currently estimated extinction rate of vegetal and animal species is about 1,000 times faster than before the human presence and it is expected to increase around 10,000 times faster in the next 40 years. SPECIES EXTINCTION The planet Earth is characterised by a wide diversity of living species, the biodiversity. Therefore, the Earth has an inestimable [...]

For several years, Valcucine has created calendars inspired to topics such as craftsmanship, creativity and natural environment. The calendar for the year 2009, made on a limited edition for Valcucine international showrooms, focuses on six topics that appeal to the respect for Mother Earth’s eternal laws: the safeguard of forests, the commitment in maintaining the air quality, the protection of insects, the respect for marine species, the safeguard of biodiversity and the effort in contrasting the glaciers’ melting.

The planet Earth is characterised by a wide diversity of living species, the biodiversity. Therefore, the Earth has an inestimable value, recognized by all human cultures around the world. Natural biodiversity has many implications and has to be protected.  To understand the importance of diversity in our life let’s use a metaphor: the forest. Let’s imagine that we paint all the elements in a forest (flowers, plants, soil….) the same colour, in this case green: it is now all the same colour. Now let’s imagine that everything that is green becomes of a single material, i.e. plastic: it is now all of the same material. We can now imagine that everything that is plastic becomes shiny and that everything shiny has the same surface texture; we now have the same texture and reflection. Now let’s imagine that the light is of one kind and evenly distributed: light is the same everywhere. Lastly, we can add constant background music: we now have an even and unchanging sound. In this way we have completely cancelled any diversity from the forest. This sameness in terms of colour, matter, surface, light and sound is negative because it creates a feeling of oppression and a lack of freedom. On the other hand, diversity corresponds to freedom of thought and expression: lack of differences would be an unfathomable loss for Man. In nature too, the reduction of the complexity and diversity of species is a negative factor. We are witnessing to an authentic tragedy, i.e. the progressive decrease in biodiversity is undermining the very delicate ecological balance of our planet in terms of its ability of cyclically transforming itself to renew its resources. ECOLOGICAL VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY It is worth mentioning here the ecological and cultural values of biodiversity, as revealed by the David Suzuki Organization. The following natural cycles make Earth hospitable by moderating temperatures and climate, and by providing us with food, clean water and breathable air.

We highlight here the participation of activist Vandana Shiva at the Terra Madre 2008 International Forum on Future of Food and Agriculture on the 23-27 October 2008 in Turin, Italy. In 2002 Vendana Shiva was awarded with the Premio Mazzotti for Literature – section Ecology; in that occasion she also met Mr. Gabriele Centazzo, chief administrator of Valcucine, and Mr. Lino Centazzo, chief director of WWF organisation in Pordenone. Vandana Shiva and Gabriele Centazzo, chief administrator of Valcucine Turin, Italy — I’ve just come out of the most hopeful and interesting discussions of climate change I’ve ever witnessed. Anchored by Indian food-sovereignty activist Vandana Shiva, the panel discussion at Terra Madre unveiled a new “Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security,” drawn up by the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture. To me, Shiva and her multinational crew of colleagues (other commission members include Wendell Berry, Jose Bové of Via Campesina, Frances Moore Lappé, and Alice Waters) have articulated a powerful new vision for confronting climate change — one more potent even than Al Gore’s famed slides and push for trade-based solutions.

The primary forest is an absolute asset for humanity, an ecosystem that has taken millions of years to give as an enormous flora and fauna biodiversity that, once destroyed, can never be reconstructed again. By penetrating the forest, the wood industry devastates gigantic areas, destroying animal and plant species and the cultural, nutritional and medicinal resources on which the native populations depend. The forest is also in danger due to the fires that prepare the territory for other, just as destructive, activities such as breeding and agriculture that prevent the growth of new trees. The forest is also vital for the rain cycle and to preserve the microclimate: in fact, deforestation contributes to the acceleration of global climatic changes on the Earth and increases the greenhouse effect. This is why it is important to avoid using wood coming from the primary forest and to favour species grown in purposely-created plantations or in European woods in which valid and certified forestry projects are in course. Valcucine has no part in the exploitation of the primary forest and uses only wood species that come from plantations in which there is a balance between felling and planting.