At least one section of About.com is promoting the use of ipê, Shorea, western red cedar, redwood and other woods ripped from old growth tropical and temperate rainforests.

About.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The New York Times Company, is a website that provides information about a broad range of subjects — kind of like an interactive encyclopedia. The problem is that information may not be checked for accuracy, the way it might in a scientific journal. Anyone can become an advisor on a particular subject, as long as they have some credentials. But this in no way assures that information posted by the advisor will be objective or complete. According to the About website, "Guides write original informative articles, provide the Web's best links for their topics, and give their readers what they need to know." But "best links" can be those that the advisor has found in a limited and skewed search — that have to do with ease and convenience, giving no information on the origins or impacts of a product or products.

In a post by About's advisor on Architecture, Jackie Craven, Ms. Craven highlights her top 5 picks for decking "wood". In the article, titled Top 5 Woods for Your New Deck, while recycled plastic products are listed, they are listed as the last option and called "mock lumber". We're not sure exactly what she means by "mock lumber" — but the implication is that these products are fake. The other four products (the "top" four) are all woods the demand for which is driving the destruction of Earth's rapidly dwindling rainforests: ipê, western red cedar, redwood and Shorea (what Ms. Craven mistakenly labels "Philippine mahogany").

Shockingly, Ms. Craven is the author of the book The Healthy Home: Beautiful Interiors That Enhance The Environment and Your Well-Being. Apparently, what Ms. Craven considers "the environment" is limited to the personal home, ignoring the destruction of the home of tens of thousands of human forest dwellers and millions of individuals of other species.

In the article, recycled plastic decking products are called "plastic wood products", further confusing the reader.

To make matters worse, companies such as Ipe Depot and DecksEasy, selling ipê and massaranduba decking are advertised on the page. Of course, About.com, like many other websites, makes its money through advertising. But advertising for old growth rainforest woods that are most likely illegally logged is irresponsible and promotes the continuing destruction of the planet's life support systems.

As a final insult, the artilcle has links in each of the top five categories to companies selling rainforest woods. Particularly, under ipê, there are links to Greenheart Durawoods, purveyers of their Pau Lope® brand of ipê and other tropical hardwoods, and Timber Holdings, Ltd., marketing ipê and other rainforest woods under their brand Iron Woods®.

Rainforest Relief has opposed both of these companies selling to municipalities across the country and both companies are known to have imported from companies tied to illegal logging.

Click here to send an email message to About.com, asking them to remove all promotion of the sales of woods from endangered forests, promote the use of more environmentally preferable alternatives (such as recycled materials, reclaimed wood products, agricultural residues and others) and certified woods whenever wood products are discussed. The above message should appear in the body of your email. If not, you can copy the above text into your email or compose your own message.

Or you can send About a message from their website contact form.

Click here to send a similar message to Jackie Craven.