Basswood and Poplar
The majority of wood used for wood window blinds and shutters is basswood and poplar, which are among the fastest growing hardwood species in North American forests. They dominate the wood blind industry due to their superior stability and light weight. To a lesser degree, other domestic species, such as cedar, aspen and cottonwood, are also used. Additionally, ramin, a tropical rain forest species, is being imported from Indonesia.
The statistics for the removal of basswood and poplar in the U.S. forests relate a good story indeed. It is fair to say that poplar is growing more than twice as fast as it is being harvested, and basswood more than three times as fast.
Renewable Resource
Besides cotton, wood is the only material used by the window covering industry that is completely renewable. Plastics and synthetic fibers are petroleum based, and aluminum is mined from fixed reserves in the ground. Once all the petroleum for plastics, and minerals for aluminums are depleted, there will not be any more. Compare this scenario with wood—not only is there more wood fiber growing every day, there's more growing even after subtracting the amount harvested!