Today is Blog Action Day 2009. If you’re not a blogger, you might not be familiar with this event, but there are nearly 10,000 websites taking part. Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Their aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. This year’s topic is climate change.

Being a musical instruments website, it took a bit of thinking to find a post topic that bridges the two together. Considering, though, that most of the instruments we play are made from wood, there is an absolute tie-in between the environment and the tools we use to make music.

We can all agree that deforestation is a major problem. I think people have done a great job in the past few years of making small changes in their lives to think environmentally, but when you have to balance the desire to be kind to the earth with buying a product you’re very passionate about, the decision is not always cut and dry.

Let’s take guitars. You’ve been saving up for that new Martin or Taylor acoustic guitar. This is your dream guitar. Maybe you remember the way your father’s Martin D28 felt in your hands, the way the body resonated against your chest, even the way the wood smelled. If you’re going to drop $3,000 on a guitar, you want it to be exactly like that. You are probably not willing to compromise quality for anything else. And why should you?

Of course, the same goes for guitar makers. When people expect the best quality product, they don’t want to compromise the materials they’re using to build it.

We musicians are a picky bunch. We love talking about wood, and the different sounds that different types and qualities of wood will create. We also like exotic woods, from the kinds of trees that people chain themselves around to protect.

So, where is the middle ground?

Believe it or not, Greenpeace has launched the Music Wood Campaign, teaming up with some of the top guitar manufactures, including Martin, Taylor, Fender, Guild, Gibson, Walden, and Yamaha. The goal is to increase the supply of woods traditionally used in the building of guitars that come from trees grown in a sustainable fashion.

For an example check out the Martin D Mahogany 09, made entirely from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (The FSC was founded by Greenpeace and other organizations in the early 1990s, and has become the gold standard of environmental certification in the forestry industry).

So, when you’re shopping for your next dream guitar, think about where the wood has come from. With a bit of research, you can get the best of both worlds. For more info, check out The Music Wood Coalition.

Here’s a great video, produced by Taylor, documenting the Music Wood Coalition’s tour of Madagascar in 2008.

You can also check out my Blog Action Day post at gearpipe.org – Ten Ways to be a More Environmentally Conscious Musician.