“Hoot” Judkins has been “A Greener Choice” for over 45 years by selling quality real wood furniture. We have been long promoters of the “Buy it at birth, keep it for life” philosophy. Making “A Greener Choice” today is not only the responsible choice for our environment, but a healthier choice for your family.

How do we assign our "Greener Choice Score" to our product?

Scores will range anywhere from 30 to 100, lowest to highest. If the item scores less than 30, we refuse to stock it in our stores because of poor craftsmanship and quality. We use the following categories to give each item a score based on the following factors:

• Construction Material
• Distance to our Stores
• Type of Finish
• Craftsmanship
• Packaging
• Corporate Responsibility

Construction material:

• Solid wood: the entire piece is made of solid wood with no veneers or particle board. Solid wood is can be repaired and refinished when damaged.

• Plywood: an affordable alternative to solid wood that does not contain particle board. Plywood is a technique of layering sheets of real wood. Plywood is extremely strong and resists cracking, bending, warping and shrinking.

• Particle Board or MDF: constructed of gluing small particles of wood together. It usually contains formaldehyde that can release toxic gases that can be harmful to humans. Particle board furniture cannot be refinished, is not as strong as solid or plywood and is harder to repair damage to the piece. Typically the terminology “select veneers” means veneer over particle board.

Distance to our store:

• California: vendors that manufacture and finish in California use less fuel to ship furniture to our stores. Purchasing furniture made in California supports our state economy. California also has the strictest standards in waste and in use of low VOC glue and staining products. So, by law, they are using greener manufacturing techniques. Stuart David manufactures near Modesto, Silver Eagle and Westwood manufacturer in Sacramento and Northwoods, Brownwood and Skog manufacture near Los Angeles.

• US & Canada: vendors that manufacture and finish in the US and Canada typically source lumber from North America. To name just a few, Rocky Butte and Bridgetown is located in Oregon, Aspen and Legends are in Arizona, Cherrico is in Utah, Borkholder is in Indiana, The Custom Shoppe is in Wisconsin and Arthur Brown is in New York. Our Canadian suppliers are Dinec and Dutailier.

• Import: We do choose to source some furniture that is imported when there is not a domestic supplier that manufactures a similar product or price point. The furniture we choose to stock typically comes from Malaysia, China, Mexico or Vietnam. Some of our import supplies are Zocalo, Martin and GS Sales.

Type of finish:

• Waterbased & Low VOC: Water based finishes are 50% water, which is a nonpollutant, leading to increased safety and comfort. They are non-flammable, and safer to use at home. Water based finishes dry to a crystal clear finish and remain clear throughout the life of your piece. Water based finishes dry fast and open a wider choice of vibrant color options. While California manufacturers must use low VOC finishes in their factory, many other US companies choose to use Low VOC products. Whittier Wood choose to finish all their product with low VOC stains and paints.

• Unfinished: Buying unfinished is scored the same as Waterbased finished furniture. Unfinished is a greener choice because you can apply the product yourself using waterbased environmentally friendly products such as the General Finishes stains, clear coats and milk paints. Bridgetown and Arthur Brown only offer unfinished furniture.

• Lacquer & Oil Base: Solvent or oil based finishes contain roughly 50% petroleum distillants, which release polluting hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. Oil based finishes have a slight amber color and will slightly darken over time. Lacquer finishes are typically used because they are durable, less expensive and they dry extremely fast in factory setting. GS Sales and CVO use lacquer finishes.

Craftsmanship: better quality furniture lasts longer, and is less likely to end up in a landfill

• Master Craftsmanship: Master craftsmanship offers the best quality construction with modern conveniences. Each piece is 100% solid wood. Manufactures use solid wood drawer interiors, English dovetail drawer construction, full extension ball bearing drawer glides and screwed on back panels. Stuart David, The Custom Shoppe and Dinec use these techniques in building their furniture.

• Heirloom Craftsmanship: Heirloom craftsmanship, which scores the same as Master Craftsmanship, uses time-tested methods of building furniture. By using techniques such as tongue and groove glue joints, English dovetailed drawer boxes, ship lap backs and solid wood table and drawer slides, these pieces are set up to become a valuable heirloom that will be treasured in families for generations. Mobel and Borkholder Amish furniture is the best example.

• Standard Craftsmanship: Standard craftsmanship uses quality techniques that add strength to the piece and provide value to the consumer. These techniques are usually less expensive to manufacturer, without compromising the integrity of the piece. Westwood, Northwoods or Skog are a few examples.

• Basic Craftsmanship: Basic craftsmanship is offers quality construction at affordable prices. These collections are generally made from less expensive woods and are price point driven. You may see imperfections in the wood or finish, but the overall pieces is still built solid and will last if cared for properly. Generally our promotionally priced furniture such as Aspen Essentials Collection and the Jofran and Ligo dining sets falls within this category.

Eco-friendly packaging: in order to prevent damage, all furniture items require some type of packaging

• Blanket wrapped: Furniture that doesn’t have to travel far, or that is built incredibly well, is often wrapped in reusable blankets and ties. This protects the furniture from damage and movement without throwing away unnecessary foam and cardboard. Some furniture may also be secured with minimal shrink wrap if risk of movement is imminent. Westwood, Skog, Stuarts and Silver Eagle are examples of blanket wrapped furniture.

• Cardboard: Some pieces require packing in cardboard. In order to minimize freight costs across the country, manufactures may pack items with cardboard to prevent damage and pack on pallets. Some items may also require foam wrapping to prevent damage to the finish. Typically if the piece is fully assembled, finished or painted and has to travel a very long distance, it probably is packed with foam.

Corporate Responsibility:

• Making a known effort: Many of our vendors are embracing the “green” effort. They are choosing responsibly harvested lumber, and/or renewable sources of lumber (such as the Bamboo collection by Rocky Butte). They may be working on efficiency and waste reduction in their plant by utilizing computer aided equipment. Many also recycle their waste such as donating their sawdust to pig farms. Many choose to use low VOC emitting glue and stain products. These are companies that not only follow the laws of their state, but take the extra step to provide a more eco friendlier and safer product for the consumer. The Custom Shoppe has embraced the principles of conservation and continues to make advances in becoming more green as well.

“Hoot” Judkins is a greener choice:

• We only sell furniture locally and we do not ship outside the Bay Area. When you are making a purchase from “Hoot” Judkins, you strengthen our local economy.
• We choose to purchase from local vendors in California which also means that less fuel and packaging is used to ship to our stores.
• We consolidate our delivery trucks in an effort to minimize our fuel use.
• We only use reusable blankets and ties in our delivery trucks.
• We make a conscious effort to minimize our use of paper in our offices and stores. For instance, we recently converted our purchase orders from paper fax transmission to e-mail and we highly encourage our vendors to send acknowledgments by e-mail.
• All sales invoices and price tags are printed on recycled paper.
• We also recycle all of our office paper, cardboard as much of our waste as possible.
• We partner with our shipping companies to consolidate loads from different vendors to reduce fuel usage.
• We partner with other real wood furniture stores located in the Bay Area to split large loads coming from the East Coast. By sharing and maximizing the load, less fuel is used.
• We encourage our customers to purchase unfinished furniture and stain it themselves with our General Finishes environmentally friendly water based stains and paints.