Environment

I have used tropical hardwoods on occasion, but the area I live in WNY is home to many beautiful native hardwoods, so those are the woods I always consider first for any new project. Really, I don't see how you can call something environmentally sensistive if you have to ship it thousands of miles. The wood I use generally comes from a radius of 50 miles of my home.

I use finishes with low environmental impact that meet the functional requirements of the application. What's that mean? A cherry hallway table, for example, is not exposed to hard use so I would use an oil/wax finish. Not very durable, but adequate for the application and very beautiful. A bathroom or kitchen cabinet, on the other hand, must withstand high humidity, water splashes, even grease spatters, so the finish needs to be very durable. For these applications I typically use a water borne polyurethane or conversion varnish, hard and durable with low VOC.