The story of FSC and Recycled papers.

What’s black and white and green all over?

The story of FSC and Recycled papers.

Back in the dark ages—say in the 1960’s and 70’s—when computers were Kaypros or Compaqs, the promise was a paperless office within 20 years. As you’ve probably noticed, it didn’t happen. In fact, we’re using more not less paper than we were 40 years ago.

The US was—and remains—the world’s largest market for paper products. And that puts a huge burden on the forests of the world. Untrammeled forests in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia are being flattened to support our need for paper. In the process, the needs of indigenous peoples are being shunted aside, irreplaceable native animals and plants are being steamrollered into oblivion, and air/water pollution on a shocking scale is de rigueur. Worse yet, the living “lungs” of our planet are being wiped out at an unsustainable pace.

Yes indeed, paper is big business. A big, messy business.

In the US, 25% of our national timber harvest is used solely to create paper. But it isn’t enough. We produce 90 million tons of paper each year but consume 100 million tons. So not only are we dependent on other countries for the fuel we burn in our cars, we’re also dependent upon them for the paper we use to fulminate about our dependency!

If God helps those who help themselves, goodness knows we’re trying.

First we tried recycling. When the concept was introduced a generation ago, the hope was that the public would do the right thing. And it did. While the recycling effort did reduce the amount of paper in landfills, it still accounted for less than one third of our paper consumption.

Then the market for recycled materials flooded, prices tanked and even environmentally sensitive communities had trouble selling their hard-earned recyclables. All this while paper prices continued to go up and forests continued to go down!

Once there was sufficient recycled product on the market, recycled papers started to appear. But because they required extra processing to remove toxins like inks, staples, glues and cellophane windows before being turned back into paper, recycled stocks were more expensive than “virgin” paper. They were also ugly and didn’t hold an image well.
Consumers stayed away in droves.

Manufacturers responded by mixing recycled paper pulp with virgin pulp. The results were lower prices and an improved product. But it touched off a moral dilemma: is 10% recycled content “recycled enough?” What is “enough,” anyway?

If recycling alone wasn’t the answer, what was?

Enter the Forest Stewardship Council. Realizing that lumbering practices around the world had to change as part of the solution, The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) implemented standards of certification for responsible behavior.

Wood is the largest component of paper. Hence, start with the source: logging. Certify companies that manage forests responsibly. Give them a “brand” that helps them win market share from companies using illegal, unsustainable and unverified logging. And by doing so, FSC reasoned, eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples and the violence against people and wildlife that accompanies unregulated logging.

Then FSC certified the mills that chip, shred and pulp the wood, ensuring they use the most benign technologies possible to turn tree slurry to paper product.

Then FSC certified companies that sell the paper to ensure the brand is not diluted or misrepresented. And finally, FSC certified printers that use environmentally friendly processes.
In other words: FSC established and maintained a rigorous “chain of custody” from forest to final product. The unbroken chain ensured environmentally and socially responsible behaviors in every step. It was the gold star standard.

But then it got even better! FSC added a recycled component to its certification process. Three labels tell the story:

• FSC 100% Virgin ensures the paper is from sustainable forests that comply with the rigorous environmental and social standards of the FSC.


• FSC 100% recycled ensures the paper is from 100% post-consumer recycled wood fiber as defined by FSC standards.
  
• FSC Mixed Source ensures the wood pulp came from an FSC-certified forest, company controlled sources and/or recycled materials.

Environmentally and socially aware consumers of paper product no longer have to choose between recycled stock and FSC stock. Now they can get the best of both possible worlds!

We may not be paperless yet, but we can ensure the papers we use are societally responsible.

Want to know more? Want to print your next job on greener papers?

Call Paul&Partners. 703-996-0800.

We’ll help you make the right decision for all the right reasons.

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43670 Trade Center Place, Suite 150, Dulles, VA 20166

Phone: 703.996.0800 Fax: 703.996.0888

www.paulandpartners.net sales@paulandpartners.net

How Do We Fare on the Environmental Report Card?

Is “going green” important? You betcha! After all, we only have one world and we need to protect it. All of it.

For the record, I come down firmly in the green camp. My hybrid Prius gets 50+ mph; at home, our lights at home are all low-energy fluorescent and LCD (which, by the way, cut 30% off our electric bill immediately); we had the first recycle bin on the block; and our yard is certified by National Wildlife. Eighteen months ago we installed a new Energy Star furnace and air conditioner.

Just yesterday we got our electric bill. Last month we started unplugging appliances when not in use to see if we could cut down on our electric bill and help our carbon footprint. The answer: we saved another 5% by unplugging the "vampire power" suckers. We're so far ahead of the neighbors, we're talking about selling carbon footprint offset vouchers to them.

At the office, things are a bit dicier.

Last year I convinced the building association to stop using dangerous chemicals to melt ice and snow. I’m still trying to get them to consider a green, living roof which will help clean the air, control water runoff, and reduce the building’s carbon footprint. After all, the roof has to be replaced in 5 years; I think we need to start thinking about options. The lifespan of a “regular” flat commercial roof is 10-15 years; the lifespan of a green roof can be 50. So it would make both economic and environmental sense, I proffer futilely, to the sound of no hands clapping.

Where I have more control, we’re doing a bit better. We do all the obvious environmentally sound practices. We use FSC and recycled papers as much as possible. We have a company-wide auto CAFÉ of over 35mph. We recycle what we can and we don’t dump chemicals into the water. We have set-back thermostats, so we moderate climate control during off-peak hours, and all our equipment is as energy efficient as current technology allows.

But Paul & Partners is still in Direct Marketing, which “harvests”100 million trees each year to produce the paper for 100 billion pieces of mail. Yes, DM leaves a huge footprint on our environment.
The USPS, God Bless ‘em, keeps coming up with truly brilliant methods to help the DM industry go greener.

Remember the 90% postage hike last summer that left magazine mailers gasping? In its wake, dozens of magazines folded. Viola! Just like that, the USPS helped save thousands of endangered trees, and made the planet a bit greener.

The catalog corollary is that a number of successful catalogs including those for Timberland, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus are being phased out completely. They’re going online. Fewer catalogs in the mail mean a greener mail stream.

A secondary benefit of fewer pieces in the mail is felt by my mail carrier, Chris. He’s getting better mileage out of his USPS truck because it’s not weighted down with enormous catalogs printed on hefty 80# gloss stock. As a result, he’s making his rounds faster. So he’s saving gas and getting home earlier in the day. His dog appreciates the extra time with Dad, too.

And that’s just the benefit from just one USPS effort to help us clean up our act! There’s more!

Remember the mandatory NCOA rule that went into effect last November? Suddenly DMers are having their service bureaus--companies similar to Paul & Partners--cleaning their lists religiously, purging bad addresses, eliminating dead wood, reducing the number of pieces going into print and mail.

OK, we should have been doing list hygiene all along, but the USPS-inspired Tough Love has cut the “junk” out of “junk mail.” And that is good.

The USPS is doing its bit internally, too. They are testing a small fleet of hydrogen vehicles. So far the fleet is limited to LA and DC because of the lack of hydrogen sources, but it’s a start.
The USPS is trying to close underutilized facilities to save on utilities, rents, maintenance, and yes, payroll. It’s basic economics, and makes good green sense.

By utilizing automation as much as possible, the USPS is processing mail faster, with fewer humans in the loop. Humans, unlike machinery, demand health care, vacations, breaks, and can only work 8 to 12 hours a day. Machinery is a lot more efficient, and can work 24 hours a day without complaining. That efficiency enhances greenness.

The economy is lending a hand, too. As banks fail and merge, mail dries up. As non-profits sputter to a standstill because they can’t get donations, the mail stops. As retailers and car dealers hang on by their fingernails because no one is shopping, the mail slows. As more people become unemployed and can’t afford to eat out, shop, or replace their old clunkers (if they could find someone to lend them money anyway), they drive fewer miles.

Just before Christmas oil dropped to $39 a barrel for a short time. Did it spur a buying frenzy? Nope. We are just not driving as much as we did. Maybe we can’t afford to do so. Maybe we choose not to do so. But we are indeed changing our ways.

We may be going greener just because we HAVE to. Not because we WANT to.

But whatever the reason, going green is a good thing. Now if we can only remember to sustain the effort once the economy turns around.

Ask the trees and polar bears if going green really matters.