Hardware retailer Rona has announced it has changed the way it sources lumber in order to be more environmentally conscious.

The company announced Wednesday that its new policy is to sell more softwood lumber from forests certified under three forest management programs: the Forest Products Marking Program, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council.

Rona has posted signs around its stores letting consumers know that currently, 90 per cent of its softwood lumber, including spruce, pine and fir, has been certified by one of these three groups. Five per cent has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the best known certification program of the three and the one favoured by most environmental groups.

Five of the company's stores in Canada will sell only certified softwood lumber. Those stores are in Rosemère, Que. (Réno-Dépôt); Mascouche, Que.; Barrie, Ont.; and two stores in London, Ont.

"RONA wants to play a role in preserving nature as well as in the sustainability of natural resources and at the same time help Canadian consumers adopt responsible consumption habits," said Normand Dumont, Rona's executive vice-president of merchandising, in a news release.

The goal, says the company, is to have all its stores sell only certified softwood lumber by the end of 2010 .