Snap Some Wood

Planet Ark has launched its popular Snap Some Wood photo competition for 2014, with four iPads with wooden covers, worth over $2,750 each, up for grabs for the best images.

The photo competition is an initiative of Planet Ark’s ‘Make It Wood – Do Your World Some Good’ campaign, which highlights the environmental benefits of using responsibly sourced wood as a building material.

“Wood has a warmth and character that no other material can emulate,” said Chris Philpot, Campaign Manager, Make It Wood. “It’s a fantastic subject for the camera lens because of the many ways you can interpret the beauty of wood.”

There are three categories – Renovation, Structures and Miscellaneous – and entries will be judged on their quality, beauty and uniqueness. This year Planet Ark is particularly interested in photos that portray people’s relationships with wood. Entries close November 5^th.

According to research, nine out of 10 of people love the look of wood in their homes, buildings, furniture and flooring, but many are still unaware of the environmental benefits of using responsibly sourced wood as an answer to climate change.

Trees take in carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis and store it as carbon in their wood. Using certified wood for building or renovating locks carbon on the surface of the planet rather than in the atmosphere.

Planet Ark is urging everybody to choose recycled or responsibly sourced wood when building, renovating or choosing furniture. As the carbon benefits of wood products are based upon the trees being responsibly harvested, consumers need to look for wood that is independently certified by schemes such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to ensure high conservation value forests are protected.

“By choosing wood over other, more carbon intensive, materials when buying or renovating, consumers can really make a difference,” says Philpot.

Show your creativity and be in the running for an iPad, by entering the ‘Snap Some Wood’ photo competition at MakeItWood.org.