As well as sourcing wood that is from a managed forest, you should be prepared to consider alternatives that have less strain on the environment, and which will ultimately provide a more sustanable product. For instance, selecting a cheaper, faster growing softwood rather than a more expensive, harder to obtain, hardwood. Another consideration that could be be adopted is to use a manufactured board, such as veneered MDF, over natural timber. Veneered MDF offers the look of natural timber while being a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative that is made from recycled materials such as small wood particles and sawdust.

• When marking out parts that are to be cut short of sheet material, the position of the cuts should be marked out in the corner of the sheet rather than in the middle of the sheet. This will not only reduce waste, it will make cutting out the shape easier.

• When several parts of the same shape are required, a template can be used to help with marking out.

• Being aware of the standard sizes of wood that are available, then selecting the size that is nearest to what is required will reduce the amount that is required to be machined down to size.

• Similarly, when the width of component parts for a project is being decided, a calculation should be made to work out how many trips of wood can be cut from the overall width of the available board. It might be the case that if the width of the strips were reduced slightly, and the reduction in width won't have an impact on the function of the part, an extra strip of wood can be cut out of the board. If that's the case, then this should be considered as this would be the most efficient use of the material and help improve the sustainability of the product.

• Another important factor to help reduce wastage in the workshop is repairing broken pieces of projects rather than just replacing then with new pieces of materials. For example, the next time you are making a project and a piece of wood breaks off, try gluing it back together rather than just scrapping it and starting over again with a new piece of wood.

• The same can be said for tools and machines, and one way of increasing a piece of equipment's shelf-life is by regular maintenanced. If we choose not to maintain our tools/machines by oiling the parts, sharpening the blades or replacing some of the consumable parts of the product efficiently, then we are lowering its sustainability as an item.

The term reuse is often confused with recycle, but the main difference with reuse is that you're not breaking the product down: what you are effectively doing is taking an item and using it again, but perhaps for a different purpose. 

Making products out of old pallet wood is becoming increasingly popular and is a good example of reusing material for a different purpose to increase the lifespan of the material and increase sustainability.