One Sticker That Can Save Thousands of Trees

Speaking of reducing waste....

...These Come from Trees is an inspired "guerrilla public service announcement" started by a concerned individual that is sweeping the nation.

Testing by the creators of the sticker has convinced them that application of the sticker inspires people to think twice, and grab only what they need, resulting in savings of up to 100 pounds of paper every year. Multiplied many times over by the massive opportunites around for placement of the sticker, the savings could be huge.

You can visit the blog of the project to learn more and to order stickers. Get 'em and stick 'em.

Xerox High Yield Business Paper: Costs less trees and $$

A new paper line introduced by Xerox this week reminds us that paper use efficiency is a key piece of any institutions responsible paper purchasing policy. Doing so not only conserves natural resources, it can also reduce organizational costs.

The company released High Yield Business Paper this week, claiming:

"High Yield Business Paper uses 90 percent of the tree versus only 45 percent being used to create traditional digital printing paper. In addition, High Yield Business Paper requires less water and chemicals and is produced in a plant using hydroelectricity to partially power the pulping process. This process reduces fossil fuel use and results in up to a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."

Conservationists agree that buying paper with a high percentage of recycled content whenever possible is the most responsible choice. After this, purchasers should also consider if any virgin content comes from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as sustainably harvested. But the new Xerox line is an innovative step in increasing efficiency, and if companies embrace it for appropriate applications as part of a comprehensive responsible paper use policy, there could be significant net gain for the environment.

For those concerned about performance of mechanically pulped paper in copiers, Xerox says it has overcome problems of some paper in the past:

"Developed by scientists and engineers at the Xerox Media and Compatibles Technology Center, a lab devoted to paper innovation located in Webster, N.Y., the Xerox High Yield Business Paper™ is a mechanical fiber paper that overcomes operational problems, such as curling and dust, which until now prevented mechanical fiber papers from being used with digital print devices."

Another way to save trees and your company's money, is also highlighted this week in Grist. GreenPrint CEO Hayden Hamilton talks about how their software saves your company money, while improving your responsibility profile.

Has IP Seen the Light?

In all likelihood the answer to that question is no, but hopefully change is on the horizon...

At the beginning of the month, IP announced that all of their mills in North America are now SFI certified and they are pursuing FSC chain of custody certification.

For those unfamiliar with certification, SFI is a do nothing industry rubber stamp for bad logging practices painted green - allowing destructive practices such as large-scale clearcutting, logging of endangered forests, and the use of toxic chemicals in the management of forests. So, no surprises here. For more information on the pitfalls of SFI visit the Alliance for Credible Forest Certification website.

Whereas this is not really news or bad news, depending on the way you read it, the intent to pursue FSC chain of custody certification could be a good thing. This all depends on whether or not they go all the way and certify all of their land, logging operations and mills or not. I am not holding my breath and it seems Dogwood Alliance isn't either. You can read their response to IP's announcement here.

To read IP's press release on the announcement, go here.