A solution to saving trees while still producing solid, sustainable furniture, could be a new wood made from hemp which is being produced in the US. With the same durability as traditional oak hardwood, the new HempWood is said to be “a reverse-engineered wood substitute”. It grows in just six months, has a 20% higher density than wood and can be used in furniture, flooring, and other woodworking projects – plus it is less expensive than oak. This product was brought into production by a company called Fibonacci – named after the famous Italian mathematician of the Middle Ages.

The company’s founder Greg Wilson co-owns another enterprise which produces eco-friendly solutions by manufacturing engineered wood products from would-be waste logs. But he feels that HempWood is a bigger and more important step in this direction. Greg says, “We’re taking something that grows in six months and we're able to replicate, if not outperform, a tropical hardwood that grows in 200 years.” He added that the company plans to expand rapidly, and will soon have eight of these HempWood factories operating in the US.