Explore Taylor Sustainability Projects
Ebony in Cameroon
What began in 2011 with Taylor’s co-purchase of an ebony mill in Yaoundé, Cameroon, has grown into a pioneering research and restoration project focused on West African ebony.
Learn More
Urban Trees in California
Making guitars from formerly discarded end-of-life urban trees has the potential to create a circular economy that can support the regreening of city and suburban areas.
Learn More
Koa in Hawaii
Our collaborative work as Siglo Tonewoods aims to restore native Hawaiian forests and preserve the future supply of koa for musical instruments.
Learn MoreIn The News
-
Press
Cameroon’s embattled ebony trees get a lifeline—from guitar maker
The guitar industry has a spotty track record for sustainable wood sourcing. But one manufacturer is trying to help stave off deforestation.
-
Press
Sustainable Guitars – Giving Back To The Trees And Communities That Helped Create Music
Beyond tree planting, the project is embedded in a sweeping venture to enrich rural livelihoods, breed a generation of African scientists, and advance ecological research.
-
Press
Taylor Guitars celebrates ‘Urban Wood Initiative’ on Earth Day 2023
Earth Day 2023 is Saturday, April 22nd. The nation’s biggest acoustic guitar manufacturer is celebrating its Urban Wood Initiative. In this Zevely Zone, I met a legend in El Cajon.
-
Press
Taylor Launches Responsibly Harvested All-Hawaiian Koa Guitars
Founded in 1974, Taylor Guitars is a leading global builder of premium acoustic guitars. Recently, the company shifted the body construction of its 700 Series from rosewood and spruce to all-Hawaiian koa.
-
Press
Taylor Guitars Named on List of World’s Most Innovative Companies
The Californian acoustic builder is honored for their world-leading sustainability initiatives in manufacturing.
-
Press
This Celeb-loved Company Is Making the One Gift Your Food, Music, and Travel–loving Dad Doesn’t Already Have
A unique gift combination with a commitment to sustainability: it’s a win-win. Taylor Guitars is of the most coveted and revered acoustic guitar manufacturers in the industry.
-
Press
Urban Trees at the End of Life Are Turned into Valuable Products, Rather Than Chipped for Landfil
Across America, cities are choosing to upcycle their felled urban trees into valuable products rather than chipping them, burning them, or dumping them into the landfill.
-
Press
Urban trees at the end of life become guitars in second life
Taylor Guitars and West Coast Arborists team up to save trees from landfills and the mulch pile
-
Press
Urban trees can end up in landfills. These companies are trying to change that
If a tree has to be cut down, it often becomes waste. Some people are now using that urban wood as a resource, turning those trees into furniture, bridges, and even guitars.
-
Press
You’ve Heard of Rosewood and Mahogany, but Do You Know What Urban Ironbark Is?
The new heart of Taylor’s 500 Series, Urban Ironbark – aka red ironbark – is the second responsibly sourced urban wood to appear in the line after Urban Ash
Sustainability Project Updates
D’Addario x Taylor Guitars: String Recycling Partners
Taylor now uses D’Addario guitar strings. Among the shared business values that connect the two companies is a commitment to sustainability leadership. Taylor co-founder Bob Taylor and Chief Guitar Designer Andy Powers visited Jim D’Addario at the company’s headquarters to talk about their partnership and their efforts to be more environmentally responsible, including an innovative string recycling program.
If you wish to recycle your strings you can find a local recycling center HERE, or you can sign up for a Players Circle account and ship them directly to D’Addario. You can also drop off your discarded strings at the Taylor Guitars Visitors Center in El Cajon, CA.
Articles by Project
Ebony
-
Articles
Back to Cameroon: An Ebony Project Update
Four years after their last trip to Cameroon, Scott Paul and Bob Taylor returned and saw firsthand the promising growth of the Ebony Project.
-
Articles
The Ebony Project: Growing Into Phase 2
A decade after buying an ebony mill in Cameroon, our efforts to ensure an ethical ebony supply chain have led to new scientific discoveries and a scalable community planting program that’s on the verge of doubling in size.
-
Articles
Three Part Harmony
Our innovative efforts to preserve the future of ebony, koa and urban trees reveal three profoundly different approaches. Yet all are linked by our commitment to improving local ecosystems and the communities that rely on them.
-
Additional Resources
An Ebony Plan Takes Root
Jim Kirlin chronicles Taylor’s six years of work to transform an ebony mill in Cameroon, learn about ebony ecology and developing a planting program. Plus: A preview of Taylor’s new ebony guitar slides.
Koa
-
Articles
Three Part Harmony
Our innovative efforts to preserve the future of ebony, koa and urban trees reveal three profoundly different approaches. Yet all are linked by our commitment to improving local ecosystems and the communities that rely on them.
-
Articles
Fast Times at Taylor Guitars
Amid a rapidly changing landscape, it’s more important than ever to adapt and innovate.
-
Additional Resources
Reliable Sources
A closer look at the history of wood selection for guitars and how things have changed.
-
Additional Resources
Tracking Progress
Scott Paul shares an update on our work with The Ebony Project in Cameroon, koa reforestation in Hawaii, and the protected status of rosewood.
Urban Wood
-
Articles
Branching Out
As Taylor’s urban wood initiative expands to include red ironbark, Scott Paul explains the value of our work with West Coast Arborists and how eucalyptus trees became so prolific in California.
-
Articles
Growth Potential
With two planting projects in the works, Taylor’s collaboration with partners like West Coast Arborists sheds light on the challenges and benefits of creating a circular economy around urban trees.
-
Articles
Three Part Harmony
Our innovative efforts to preserve the future of ebony, koa and urban trees reveal three profoundly different approaches. Yet all are linked by our commitment to improving local ecosystems and the communities that rely on them.
-
Additional Resources
Seeing the Urban Forest for the Trees
Scott Paul explains the value of urban trees and how Taylor’s collaboration with a California-based arborist can support the regreening of city and suburban areas.
Awards & Accolades
-
-
Awards & Accolades
Fast Company Selects Taylor Among Top 10 Most Innovative Manufacturers
The innovation-minded publication recognized Taylor’s global environmental and sustainability initiatives.
-
Awards & Accolades
The International Green Industry Hall of Fame
Taylor Guitars was humbled and honored to be inducted along with eight other individuals or organizations at IGIHOF’s 12th annual event.
