We are not sustainable.
To be truly sustainable, we would need to protect, preserve, and regenerate the ecosystems and resources we depend on, indefinitely, without degrading them over time.
And we may never be.
But that doesn’t mean we stop trying.
At Taylor Guitars, we've made real progress. We've invested in restoring forests, found new ways to reduce waste, and rethought how we source our wood. But we haven't "arrived," and we probably never will. That's the truth about what sustainability really is: not a finish line, but a direction. A commitment. A willingness to do better today than we did yesterday.
When Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug started Taylor Guitars in 1974, they weren't necessarily thinking about sustainability. Back then, few people were. Sourcing wood meant driving to the local lumber yard, not flying across the world to walk through remote forests.
Today, we know better.
And knowing better means doing better.
Our industry, like so many others, relies on fragile ecosystems, complex global supply chains, and finite natural resources. Forests worldwide are under real pressure, and while we partner with responsible suppliers, we know our responsibility doesn’t end there.
We don’t claim perfection. We claim responsibility.
That’s why we’re rethinking how we build, what we build with, and what legacy we leave behind. Here's how we’re confronting the reality of what it takes to make guitars in a world running out of time.
Sourcing With Eyes Wide Open
A Taylor guitar contains wood from as many as five different tree species. That's not just a supply chain. It's a global footprint. From the tropical forests of Central America, Central Africa, and India to the temperate forests of North America, we travel to the source to inspect quality and to better understand the impact of our demand.
We've learned that every region, forest, and community is different, and there's no one-size-fits-all approach. So we build real relationships with our suppliers, invest in their communities, and make long-term commitments that go beyond the transactional.
Restoring Forests
In Cameroon, The Ebony Project has planted tens of thousands of ebony and fruit trees alongside local communities. In Hawaiʻi, we co-founded Siglo Tonewoods, which has planted tens of thousands of koa and other native trees to help restore Hawaiian forests. And in California, we're helping give new purpose to felled urban trees that would otherwise be chipped or burned.
Waste Less, Use More
Efficiency is still about saving money, but today it's also about saving material, energy, and natural resources.
We redesigned our necks to get more usable wood from fewer trees. We embraced variegated ebony, wood that was once left to rot in the forest simply because it wasn’t pure black, even though it sounds the same. And we've turned scrap wood into slides, hangers, and cutting boards.
Even our finishes have changed, with cleaner formulas, smarter application, and fewer emissions.
Sustainability is a journey, not a destination.
We're proud of the progress we've made, and we know there's more to do. Whether sustainability is fully attainable may be an open question. What isn't in question is our commitment to keep doing the difficult, often costly work it takes to build guitars responsibly for the long term.
