The tale of Taylor Guitars and the quest for sustainability

Early last month, I read a report on how Gibson, the famous guitar makers were forced to face the music. They were ordered to pay $300,000 in penalties because they were found guilty of aiding illegal trafficking of tropical hardwoods; more specifically, rosewood and ebony shipments from India and ebony from Madagascar with an estimated value of more than $419,000. Not very pleasant news for a company and it's reputation. When I shared this news with a friend who also happens to be a musician, he shared this video in turn. It lasts little over 13 minutes and I urge you to watch it to the end.

Hats off to Bob Talyor of Taylor guitars! One person's decision to make a positive difference can have so many ripple effects, especially if he/she happens to be in a position of power. In this case,Bob Taylor's decision to confront 'the truth of the forest' and respond accordingly has saved hundreds of trees from being felled unnecessarily, has eased the labour of those who chop down the trees, has increased the availability of legally harvested ebony worldwide, has set new benchmarks for the 'value' of ebony. I'm positive, employees of Taylor guitars must feel proud to work for such a company. I'd love to meet him in person someday and when I do, I'd be sure to congratulate him on several counts - making the effort to stay in Cameroon for a over a year despite his 'first world/modern' roots, demonstrating great people skills in truly listening to his employees/contractors, for demonstrating outstanding leadership in making the decision to pay the same rate for wood that was until then considered B-grade simply because it was coloured, knowing full well that customers were used to different standards and last but not the least for going all out to educate his customers on why he made the decision, for reaching out to millions of musicians who play guitars and violins. I'm positive that when customers really see what he sees, they too will soon realize the truth of his visionary statement, "The nature of what we thought was beautiful for a hundred years is simply going to change". The global trade in illegal timber is said to be worth over $30 billion a year. When you consider that over and above this cost, one must also take into account the cost of decimated habitats, irreparably damaged watersheds, destroyed livelihoods and extinction of species, the costs soon become immeasurable. But we live in exciting times. Not only thanks to courageous and visionary leaders like Bob Taylor but also thanks to development of new frontiers in science and law. DNA testing is now being used to trace timber back to its origins. Australian companies are now proactively responding to the proposed legislation to enforce criminal sanctions on companies that cannot prove they are importing from legal sources. Watch this video to see how 'CSI meets save the planet'.

So while one industry is slowly but surely moving towards taking responsibility, it makes me think of other industries that are doing/ potentially could do something similar -for instance,  the fashion and clothing industry. In my next post, I'd like to talk about how the textile and apparel industry wastes enormous quantities of water and what some companies are doing to tackle this wasteful way of doing things. Stay tuned.