That might have been how forests were logged decades ago, but not today. At least not in the United States, and certainly not in FSC-, SFI- and other certified forests.  

First, it’s important to understand what deforestation is. Deforestation is the permanent removal of trees and conversion of the land to another function. It’s not in the best interest of the forest products industry to devastate forests. Paper mills and other forest products companies rely on having long-term sources of high-quality fiber. It’s in their best interest to ensure that forests are harvested sustainably and responsibly.

Many certified forests are harvested using the shelter harvesting method. In this method, forests are managed by certified foresters who select no more than 15% of the trees in any one stand to be harvested. Trees are selected based on age, health, species diversity, species concentration, the need to protect natural riparian areas, and other factors. Once a section of forest is harvested, it is not revisited another 20 years. The result is a healthier, often self-regenerating forest.

Especially in the United States, a high percentage of fiber comes from privately owned forests using ecologically sensitive forest management like shelter harvesting. Far from causing deforestation, this commercial use of forests actually helps to preserve forestland by allowing it to stay in the hands of private landowners rather than being sold off for development. Many of these private forestlands are also leased for recreational use, such as hiking, hunting, and cross-country skiing.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t many benefits to old-growth, virgin forests. There are, and they are critical to our larger ecosystem, both in terms of ecology and species diversity. But the world needs paper and other forest products, too. We depend on them. We shouldn’t be afraid to harvest forests when it’s done responsibly.

In the paper industry, environmental certifications go beyond the papermaking process look at logging practices, including the impact on indigenous peoples. They ensure that the logging process and resulting social impact show sensitivity to a full range of sustainable issues, including economic, social, and environmental.

Among the available paper certifiers are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), currently offering the most recognizable certification; the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (FSI), whose certification addresses North American forests; and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), an umbrella organization that recognizes several dozen national and regional forest certification systems.

To give you some idea of what these certifications do, here is how the FSC describes its program:

The FSC Principles and Criteria describe how the forests have to be managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations. They include managerial aspects as well as environmental and social requirements.

Here is a summary of some of the points the FSC principles and criteria require.

• Prohibit conversion of forests or any other natural habitat

• Respect of international workers rights

• Prohibition of use of hazardous chemicals

• Respect of human rights with particular attention to indigenous peoples

• No corruption—follow all applicable laws

• Identification and appropriate management of areas that need special protection (e.g. cultural or sacred sites, habitat of endangered animals or plants)

Although FSC claims the strictest regulations, other certifications offer similar protections for indigenous forests and peoples. Thus, purchasing paper with environmental certifications assures you (and your clients and suppliers) that the paper has been produced using fiber that was obtained legally, through well-managed forests, and using sustainable forestry management practices.

It’s one way you can make a difference.

URLs:

www.fscus.org/

www.sfiprogram.org/

www.pefc.org/

This morning, I had a stack of envelopes in front of me. Approximately one-quarter of the commercial communications had logos that say “please recycle” in some form or another.

One had the Direct Marketing Association’s RecyclePlease.org logo

Two had “Please Recycle” and the chasing arrows

One had “Please Recycle” and an FSC logo

The rest had nothing

I counted them. I counted them again. Then I threw them in the trash.

Why? Because I didn’t know what else to do with them. As far as I knew, my municipality doesn’t collect mixed office paper for recycling. If I want to recycle my office waste, I have to bundle it and deliver it . . . somewhere. That seems like a waste of fossil fuel for my tiny amount of paper, so into the trash it goes.

Or does it? I’d wanted to look into the issue for months but didn’t know where to start. Now seemed as good a time as any. I started asking around. I did multiple searches on the Internet. At first, I got nowhere. Nobody knew anything. Google searches turned up statistics on recycling and endless blog posts on the benefits of recycling I already knew. Nothing on how to do it. Eventually, I decided to call my local township office and ask.  

To my surprise, they do collect mixed office paper for recycling. They also accept newspaper inserts, magazines, junk mail, and even cardboard cereal boxes and six-pack holders. They’ll even pick it up at the curb. They just don’t provide a bin for it. But if I tie it all up, they’ll take it.

Who knew?

I promptly recovered the envelopes from the trash and started a new recycling stream in my home.

On one hand, the “please recycle” logo wasn’t a big help. It didn’t tell me anything. I did log into the DMA’s RecyclePlease.org site, but it told me about the logo and not how to recycle what it was printed on. It took my own initiative and hours of time to get the answers I needed.

On the other hand, it was that “please recycle” logo that kept the question in my mind until I was willing to look into it. It took awhile, but it paid off. If the logo hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t have looked into it at all. Over my lifetime, how many tons of paper will be saved from the landfill because of that little black graphic?

“Please recycle” doesn’t cost anything to add to an envelope or box. So why not add it? You never know. It just might make a difference.

Celestial Seasonings is a brand of tea that many people recognize for its lack of string, staple, and tag. Some may find the lack of tag annoying because there is nothing to grab onto in order to remove the bag. Others, like me, prefer it because there is no metal staple to fall into your tea and no paper tag to disintegrate in your hands when it gets wet.

But Celestial Seasonings uses this lack of accoutrement in another way—to promote its environmental commitment.

What makes the company such a particularly good example of smart marketing is that it uses this commitment, which is something it is doing anyway, as a smart, no cost addition to its marketing efforts. In this, it provides an example that we can all learn from.

How does it do this? On the underside of the tea box lid, Celestial Seasonings prints a question:  Ever wonder why . . . no string and no tag?

It goes on to explain that because these “natural fiber tea bags” don’t need strings, tags, staples, or individual wrappers, the company is able to save more than 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year. This also means less energy used to harvest raw materials and produce the unnecessary ballast.

On the bottom of the tea box, Celestial Seasonings promotes that its boxes use 100% recycled paperboard with 35% post-consumer content. The box also sports the Ethical Trade logo, which supports fair wages and sustainable harvests in more than 35 countries.

This is really smart marketing. Why? Studies have shown that eco-sensitive customers are more loyal than other types of customers. Thus, with just the addition of a little bit of text, Celestial Seasonings enables its measurable environmental commitment to double as a terrific marketing strategy.

What can other marketers learn from this?

• If your company has an environmental story, tell it!
• Don’t overlook your corporate identity materials and product packaging as marketing media. They’re free!
• Where possible, quantify the benefits of your commitment. I’m impressed that Celestial Seasonings took the time to quantify its waste reduction in its marketing. This kind of detail provides credibility and gives others a reason to tell your story for you (for example, this blog post).

What are you doing to hang onto your eco-sensitive customers? Are you making use of any available space on your existing packaging and corporate identity materials to tell your story?

When you are printing first on an offset press then sending through digital equipment, does the paper need to be manufactured different?

Offset printing is considered a wet process, while toner based printing is considered a heat process. Typically, uncoated paper manufacturers produce paper for offset with a higher moisture content while toner grades are made at lower moisture content.  To make the sheet able to perform in a wider range of equipment, some manufacturers will run a mid-moisture level with additives for digital performance.

Is color copy paper to be used on color copy equipment only, or is it guaranteed for all digital equipment?

Color copy paper typically has a very smooth surface for better printability, thus making it a higher end sheet. If the paper is guaranteed to perform on color copy equipment or is laser guaranteed, this usually means it performs on all toner-based equipment, from small office copiers to high-speed production presses, unless otherwise specified.

Regarding the compatibility of paper for digital print, we often get asked whether our Royal grades can be run offset for a shell and then run through a non-impact process afterward.

For pre-print applications there are three pieces of advice. The first two are crucial and the latter is helpful. 1) make sure the paper is guaranteed for preprint applications in the first place 2) always print the piece so that the final piece is grain long i.e. 8.5 x 11” not 11 x 8.5” 3) I would recommend using at least a 60 to 70# basis weight sheet not 50# as the sheet is too thin for this tough application.

When was the last time print and paper production was treated like the bad guy? Five minutes ago? But the reality is, the forest and paper industry is one of the leaders in sustainability.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) just released its 2010 report measuring progress by the forest products industry on key sustainability indicators.

Using the latest data available, the new report, “Sustainable Practices: a Foundation of the Forest Products Industry,” shows that despite the severe impact made by the recession, continued investments by AF&PA member companies in more efficient processes and equipment have led to measurable progress on such sustainability indicators as recycling and air emissions.

Among the report’s key findings:

• In 2009, 63.4% of U.S. paper consumed was recovered – surpassing AF&PA’s 60% recovery goal three years ahead of schedule.
• On an absolute basis, both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions at member pulp and paper and wood products industry facilities have decreased.
• In 2008, 65% of the energy needed to operate member pulp and paper mills was produced from renewable fuels. At wood products facilities, renewable fuels produced 73.5% of needed energy.
• Compared to 2006, pulp and paper mill sulfur dioxide releases decreased 14.6% and total reduced sulfur releases were reduced 18.6%.

I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s incredible.

After all, consider just how huge the forest and paper industry is. How much of what you use on a daily basis comes from forest products of some kind? Everything from the school supplies in your child’s backpack to the wood fiber in the RTA furniture in your office to the construction materials used to rebuild New Orleans. Not to mention the substrate used in the jobs lined up in your press queue!

Now the news gets even better. When you look at the great strides this massive, powerful industry is making, you the creative, printer, or business owner can take part of the credit for it. That’s because the forest and paper industry wouldn’t focus on sustainability if customers didn’t care about it.

Let’s hear it for customers who care about sustainability! You are the engine that drives this level of change.

Click here to read the entire AF&PA “Sustainability Report” for 2010.

What trends are you seeing in digital equipment?

Most of the advancements in toner-based equipment in the last few years center on higher speed and improved print quality, rather than a radical change in technology. The recent area of focus in digital printing is inkjet as the print quality closes in on toner. Generally, the inkjet equipment is roll-fed.  However, manufacturers are working on smaller, less expensive sheet-fed models. To date, the uncoated paper stocks usually must be specially formulated to perform on inkjet.

What constitutes a digital substrate, the size or the finish?

It depends upon which paper mill you ask! A sheet does not need to be in a digital size to perform on digital equipment. Many printers prefer to cut down parent sheets to the exact size they need which gives them more choices and flexibility in paper stocks. The finish is an important factor in printability on digital equipment. Typically, the smoother the surface, the better the print. However, we have seen some amazing results on textured stocks as well, such as Wausau Paper’s Royal Resource® Bark Finish. This sheet features a hard surface without much fine detail in the pattern; therefore toner lays down quite well.

What is the advantage of uncoated paper vs. coated paper for digital applications?

Uncoated papers come in a vast array of colors, sizes, and textures.

With the green movement becoming mainstream, the softer and natural look of uncoated papers has increased in popularity. In addition to white, there are many earth-toned uncoated papers available on the market, including muted browns and greens like bamboo, weathered oak and thyme.  If you’re looking for a sheet with a soft tactile finish (vs. the colder, harder surface of a coated sheet), textures such as bark, crepe or felt are the answer.  With the expansion of coating options in digital technology, coating on digital press output is becoming more common, thereby eliminating concerns about durability of the printed piece.