The Twelve Days of Dogwood
Our 2010 Highlights Will Put You in the Holiday Spirit
1. KFC’s Been Naughty – Dogwood’s Been Nice
In April, we launched the latest campaign in our push to change the paper industry — this one targeted at KFC, whose wasteful fast food packaging is coming from destroyed wetland forests and other critical ecosystems in the Southern US. Guess who their main supplier is? You guessed it: IP aka “The Grinch”.
2. Georgia Pacific Provides Some Holiday Cheer
GP kicked off our holiday season with the best gift of all: a very public commitment to stop sourcing from any future pine plantations established at the expense of natural hardwood forests and from endangered forests. Plus, GP will become the first company in history to map endangered forests throughout the South.
3. McDonalds Doesn’t Clown Around
The world’s most recognized fast food brand went on record with their commitment to adopt a global forest policy. Joy to the world!
4. Coke Joins the Carbon Canopy and 145,000 Other Reasons to be Thankful
The Carbon Canopy, launched in 2009, grew significantly. The Coca-Cola Company joined Staples and other industry leaders in the Carbon Canopy in 2010, lending its mega-brand value and financial resources to support expanded forest conservation, and restoration in the South. But even better, the is the 145,000 acres of forests Carbon Canopy helped get placed on the Climate Action Reserve’s Carbon Registry by two of the region’s largest landowners.
5. What’s Worse than a Stocking Full of Coal?
How about burning forests for fuel? Dogwood stepped up big time in 2010 to help stop this new trend in “bio-energy” head on by debunking industry myths and sharing the facts. We even entered straight into the belly of the beast by being the keynote debate at Biomass South 2010 industry conference.
6. Mega-Packaging Consumers Commit to Green Packaging
That’s right some of the biggest companies in the Health and Beauty and Entertainment industries that get their packaging from Southern forests adopted new environmental paper packaging policies: GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Universal Music Group and Sony Home Entertainment.
7. Making the Grade
Our 2010 Green Grades report shows you who’s been naughty and who’s been nice throughout the paper industry. You can also see who’s made strides in the right direction!
8. When Good Trees Go Bad
Dogwood Alliance joined the Sierra Club, the Center for Food Safety and others in filing a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture to stop the introduction of genetically engineered Eucalyptus trees in the South.
9. Helping Us All Breathe a Little Easier
Dogwood’s Sustaining Our Defense report explains how sustainable forests are a huge asset in the fight against climate change — and how poorly managed ones do even more harm than we thought.
10. How the Grinch Stole Forests
If there’s a Grinch to be had this holiday season, it’s certainly , who still harvests from endangered forests and supports damaging monoculture pine plantations. They’ve even donned a Grinchy-greenwashed coat with their endorsement of SFI. But not to fear, Dogwood won’t stop until IP has a change of heart!
11. Our Buddy Cole Shows His Spirit
Cole, that extraordinary third grader who mobilized his entire school to send postcards to McDonald’s and KFC, won the first ever Forest Defender of the Year Award from Dogwood Alliance and the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Way to go, Cole!
12. The Best Gift Ever!
That one’s easy — it’s people like you! Dogwood was truly blessed to have the gifts of time, talent, money and support of hundreds of people in 2010. When it comes to saving Southern forests, that’s the most important gift of all. THANK YOU!
Yum! Brands doubles down on vague generalities in 2010 Sustainability Report; Like the empty calories found in the famously gargantuan Double Down sandwich, the report is free of a real commitment to green their paper packaging supply chain
Fast food giant Yum! Brands just released their second ever Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report. While CEO David Novak promises to make their packaging more environmentally friendly, unfortunately, they are still buying their paper packaging from special Southern forests, and other endangered forests around the world. The report also announces the arrival of their new Chief Sustainability Officer Roger McClendon. Although we have not heard from him yet, we hope we can welcome him to his important new position and speak with him about the steps the company can take to protect Southern Forests.
Yum! Brands is huge. When it comes to their paper packaging decisions they are contributing to large scale clearcutting and conversion of natural forests to sterile pine plantations which has disastrous impacts on the biodiversity of Southern forests and communities.
Yum! Brands new Chief Sustainability Officer Roger McClendon can help usher in a new era of leadership at the company by following other companies examples and by taking bold new steps within the fast food sector.
· While countless other companies like Staples, Office Depot, Random House, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Starbucks and others have developed sustainable paper purchasing policies and taken action to help protect forests, to date, Yum! Brands lags seriously behind.
· When it comes to paper packaging choices, Yum! Brands has no clear plans for increasing its use of purchases of post-consumer recycled paper or ensuring that its paper is certified by FSC standards –the only independent global certification system in the world accepted by the conservation community.
· If Yum! Brands wants to seriously be seen as a leader in CSR, it must, as other companies have done, take action to reverse the devastating impacts to forests resulting from its paper packaging. Clearly, alternatives are available.
· Yum! Brands can show leadership in the fast food sector by adopting a sustainable paper purchasing policy committing to:
o Increase and maximizing the use of PCR content.
o End sourcing from endangered forests
o End sourcing from forests converted to plantations…
o Increase packaging efficiency and reduction
o Source paper from sustainably managed forests like those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Read our statement about how KFC is misleading its customers by embracing the greenwashing associated with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative here.
Learn more about our Kentucky Fried Forests campaign here.
On December 14th, a broad based coalition of environmental and conservation organizations representing millions of people in the US submitted a letter to KFC asking the company to end its support for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper certification scheme. The letter is in response to a recent initiative announced by KFC that promotes its paper packaging as green because it is certified by the SFI.
The request follows on the heels of a vote last week in which members of the US Green Building Council rejected the inclusion of the SFI certification system in its LEED standards certification. Additionally, earlier this year, a suit was filed with the Federal Trade Commission accusing the SFI of misleading marketing practices and the label had its non-profit status challenged in a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The nine organizations which include Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and ForestEthics amongst others, encouraged KFC to stop greenwashing and embrace truly sustainable paper packaging such as recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is the only forest certification system broadly endorsed by environmental and science-based organizations across North America.
“When we launched our campaign in April, KFC has refused to engage with us on these critical issues. We are encouraged that KFC and its parent company Yum! Brands have finally expressed a desire to source its paper packaging responsibly,” said Scot Quaranda of Dogwood Alliance. “Unfortunately, by endorsing the SFI they are either directly or inadvertently misleading their customers and the public.”
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative was created as a marketing label by the American Forest & Paper Association and is a rubber stamp for business as usual destructive forestry practices. The SFI certifies the worst of the worst forest management practices such as large-scale clearcutting, logging of endangered forests and critical wildlife habitat, conversion of natural forests to sterile tree plantations, and widespread use of toxic chemicals.
Whereas the SFI is a misleading certification scheme, the broader conservation community and countless Fortune 500 companies support the Forest Stewardship Council, which is far more rigorous and can play an important role in protecting endangered forests and improving forest practices across North America.
“KFC has an opportunity to help protect forests in its own backyard, the Southern US, by rejecting the SFI and embracing FSC,” continued Quaranda. “We urge KFC to get educated about the SFI and stop hiding behind a phony green label.”
# # #
The letter and a full list of signatories can be viewed here – Sign-on Letter to YUM to drop SFIClick here to see a side by side comparison of the SFI and FSC.
To learn more about Dogwood Alliance’s Kentucky Fried Forests campaign, visit here: http://www.kentuckyfriedforests.com/
For Immediate Release: Contact: Scot Quaranda,December 15, 2010 Dogwood Alliance, 828.251.2525 x18
National and Regional Conservation Organizations Tell KFC to Drop the Misleading Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
Request Follows on the Footsteps of US Green Building Council Rejection of SFI
Asheville, NC – Yesterday, a broad based coalition of environmental and conservation organizations representing millions of people in the US submitted a letter to KFC asking the company to end its support for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper certification scheme. The letter is in response to a recent initiative announced by KFC that promotes its paper packaging as green because it is certified by the SFI.
The request follows on the heels of a vote last week in which members of the US Green Building Council rejected the inclusion of the SFI certification system in its LEED standards certification. Additionally, earlier this year, a suit was filed with the Federal Trade Commission accusing the SFI of misleading marketing practices and the label had its non-profit status challenged in a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The nine organizations which include Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and ForestEthics amongst others, encouraged KFC to stop greenwashing and embrace truly sustainable paper packaging such as recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is the only forest certification system broadly endorsed by environmental and science-based organizations across North America.
“When we launched our campaign in April, KFC has refused to engage with us on these critical issues. We are encouraged that KFC and its parent company Yum! Brands have finally expressed a desire to source its paper packaging responsibly,” said Scot Quaranda of Dogwood Alliance. “Unfortunately, by endorsing the SFI they are either directly or inadvertently misleading their customers and the public.”
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative was created as a marketing label by the American Forest & Paper Association and is a rubber stamp for business as usual destructive forestry practices. The SFI certifies the worst of the worst forest management practices such as large-scale clearcutting, logging of endangered forests and critical wildlife habitat, conversion of natural forests to sterile tree plantations, and widespread use of toxic chemicals.
Whereas the SFI is a misleading certification scheme, the broader conservation community and countless Fortune 500 companies support the Forest Stewardship Council, which is far more rigorous and can play an important role in protecting endangered forests and improving forest practices across North America.
“KFC has an opportunity to help protect forests in its own backyard, the Southern US, by rejecting the SFI and embracing FSC,” continued Quaranda. “We urge KFC to get educated about the SFI and stop hiding behind a phony green label.”
# # #
The letter and a full list of signatories can be viewed here: http://pressroomda.greenmediatoolshed.org/node/25048
To see a side by side comparison of the SFI and FSC, go here:
http://pressroomda.greenmediatoolshed.org/node/25049
To learn more about Dogwood Alliance’s Kentucky Fried Forests campaign, visit here: http://www.kentuckyfriedforests.com/
Dogwood Alliance has been working with giants in the music industry like Universal Music Group and Sony Home Entertainment to green their packaging for the last few years. Last week, our friends at The Musician’s Guide contacted us and asked us to share their latest infographic on the good and bad in the music industry. Hope you enjoy!
Ever wondered just how green the music industry is? When you factor in the millions of fans travelling great distances to see their favourite artists, the recording studios with 100’s of electronic units left on 24/7 all year round, and the resources that are used to make music equipment, it’s not surprising to think that it’s not the most friendly industry out there.
Last month The Musician’s Guide – a UK musician resource website put together a campaign around the theme of ‘How Green is the Music Industry’ to shed light on the good, the bad, and the ugly. That is, from the Ditty Bops and Jack Johnsons who are cycling thousands of miles to perform tours and insulating recording studios with recycled clothing, to the U2’s – whose 2010 tour had the same carbon footprint as a return trip to mars, or a lightbulb being left on for 159,000 years.
Click here to view the
How Green is the Music Industry Infographic
.
I drank untreated river water. I drank a lot of it. I filled a water bottle for later. I knew it wouldn’t make me sick.
I could drink from the river because I was on the edge of an intact Argentinean forest. Whether by accident of neglect, harshness of climate, or beneficence of landowners, the forest was large enough, and natural enough, to clean the water falling on it and flowing through it to the quality of fine drinking water.
At home in the southeastern U.S. we have a very few patches of old growth forest. Many other forests were downed all at once years ago–where now trees born together in a few short years grow shoulder to shoulder. There are also monotonous rows of single species industrial tree farms. All of these woods are crisscrossed by roads. Only a small percentage of our woods are real, natural forests–places where trees germinate, grow, die, and rot on no particular human-imposed schedule in an area sufficient to withstand human impact and the random blows of nature. Our forests were and could be so much more. They could make drinkable water.
Real, intact forests clean water and air, provide with ease for the complex needs of wildlife, lift the spirit, and keep people healthy. They are not exclusive of people. Sheep and cattle roam, beer is brewed, firewood is gathered, furniture is made, and hikers wander in the Argentinean forest where I took my drink. But, real, intact forests aren’t excessively messed with—they don’t look “managed.”
In the early 1900s, protecting drinking water motivated creation of the National Forests of the Eastern United States on lands so burned and cut over that many pictures show not a single tree standing. Today real, intact forests are emerging on some of these same lands.
In 1972 the Clean Water Act passed as Congress envisioned an end to water pollution and restoration and maintenance of “the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,” partially in response to the Cuyahoga River catching on fire. Today the Cuyahoga is designated a National Heritage River and supports dozens of species of fish where it supported none before.
Today’s challenge, taken up by Dogwood Alliance and others, is to build sustainable and responsible use of our forests so that they may reach their full potential. In twenty years, using virgin materials to wrap a sandwich, wipe up a spill, or scribble a note may seem as crazy as a National Forest without trees or a river burning in the
middle of a major city.
I’ll probably never drink directly from an Eastern U.S. river without worry, but maybe two generations down will, if we do right by our forests today.
Rachel Doughty
Ed. Note: Rachel is a member of the Dogwood Alliance program committee and an environmental attorney. She is currenltly on sabbatical traveling and working on a farm in South America.
ATLANTA, Ga. (November 16, 2010) – In a bold commitment to forests, Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific (GP) has announced that it will not purchase trees from Endangered Forests and Special Areas, or from new pine plantations established at the expense of natural hardwood forests. The policy statement was developed in consultation with environmental groups Dogwood Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Rainforest Action Network.
While GP’s new forest policy applies to all of its operations, as a first step in implementing its commitment on Endangered Forests and Special Areas, GP worked with the environmental groups and scientists to identify 11 Endangered Forests and Special Areas totaling 600,000 acres in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Eco-Region, as well as 90 million acres of natural hardwood forests in the Southern region. Endangered Forests and Special Areas in other regions will be mapped in a similar process, over the coming years.
“No other U.S. company has demonstrated this level of initiative in mapping unique forests across such a broad region,” said Debbie Hammel, NRDC Senior Resource Specialist. “Through this process, GP has proven that—by harnessing scientific advances and seeking conservation guidance—corporations can help protect unique places without sacrificing profitability.”
“Georgia-Pacific has shown real leadership on issues of critical importance in the South. At the same time, our forests are not completely out of harm’s way until other companies also agree to protect them,” said Danna Smith, Executive Director of Dogwood Alliance. “We will continue to urge the companies that are lagging behind to take action to protect unique places on the Southern landscape and end the conversion of natural hardwood forests to plantations.”
The South’s natural forests are home to more plant and animal species than anywhere else in North America. They also help protect the drinking water for millions of people and naturally eliminate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Yet less than two percent of the region’s forests are protected, and the South produces more wood and paper than any other place in the world. The 11 designated Endangered Forests and Special Areas span North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia and include forests in the Alligator River Region, Camp Lejeune Area, Congaree River Area, Croatan National Forest Region, Fort Jackson, Francis Marion National Forest, Holly Shelter Region, Great Dismal Swamp Area Green Swamp Region (account for two distinct areas), and Savannah River Site. These areas are home to endangered species such as the Red-cockaded woodpecker, rare plants including the carnivorous Venus flytrap, and unique geographic features—including pocosins, the Algonquin term for “swamp on a hill.”
In addition to helping protect Endangered Forests and Special Areas, GP is helping to protect the South’s natural hardwood forests from being converted to plantations in the future by not buying pine fiber from natural hardwood forests that have been converted to pine as of July 1, 2008. Over the past several decades, the intense wood and paper production in the region has resulted in the conversion of millions of acres of natural hardwood forests to pine plantations. These plantations are more intensively managed than natural hardwood forests, often involving the spraying of chemical herbicides and fertilizers, causing concerns about the human health impacts in nearby communities. In addition, the replacement of natural hardwood forests to pine plantations diminishes biodiversity and wildlife habitat and releases carbon into the atmosphere. The conversion of wetland forests to pine plantations has also been linked to increased flooding on the southern coast of North Carolina. This commitment to increasing protection for forests is the result of six years of engagement between GP and environmental groups the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Dogwood Alliance, and Rainforest Action Network (RAN).
### About the Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers, and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.3 million members and online activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Beijing. www.nrdc.org About Dogwood Alliance Dogwood Alliance mobilizes diverse voices to defend the unique forests and communities of the Southern United States from destructive industrial forestry. Founded in 1996, Dogwood Alliance is the only organization in the South holding corporations accountable for the impacts of their business practices on the region’s forests and has been at the forefront of driving the U.S. paper market towards more sustainable fiber sourcing practices.
Every now and then something profound happens and it makes you realize that all the hard work, frustration, persistence and endless patience has been worth it. Today is one of those days. One of those days where we have to pause, take a breath and celebrate. Dogwood Alliance and the iconic Southern paper giant, Georgia-Pacific (GP), are announcing bold new steps the company is taking to prevent the conversion of over 90 Million acres of natural hardwood forests to pine plantations and protect endangered forests in the Southern US – the largest wood and paper producing region of the world. History is in the making. Times are changing. A major economic force affecting forests has shifted.
Over six years ago, I sat with my colleagues at Rainforest Action Network and NRDC across a table from Georgia-Pacific executives to discuss our concerns about the conversion of natural forests to plantations and the destruction of endangered forests in the Southern US. And while it was certainly clear that we didn’t see the world in the same way, something told me then that a breakthrough was possible. The multiple discussions that followed at times made me angry, frustrated and even sad. On many occasions I left meetings or phone calls determined to walk away. But then we’d achieve some big breakthrough, I’d laugh and I’d keep going. Such has been the roller coaster ride with GP over the past six and a half years – a little scary but in the end amazing and invigorating.
Today, GP is stepping away from business-as-usual forestry practices, announcing boldly to the world its new policies to end purchasing wood from endangered forests and from any new plantations established at the expense of natural hardwood forests. Going beyond words on a piece of paper, over the past 2 years, GP, working with Dogwood and NRDC has mapped 600,000 acres of endangered forests and special areas in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal eco-region. Unique forests in and around special areas like the Green Swamp, Great Dismal Swamp and Congaree River, home to endangered venus fly traps, unique swampland forests and a variety of other special species will from here on out be spared from the GP chopping block.
No other wood or paper products company in the US has taken the time to work with conservation organizations and scientists in the South to map endangered forests and special areas on such a large scale within a major wood sourcing region. GP will continue to work with Dogwood to map endangered forests and special areas across the entire South. Maps of Gulf Coast forests will be next.
And while GP has shown much needed leadership on issues of critical importance to the unique forests and communities of the Southern US unless other companies take similar action, our forests will not receive the protection they so deserve. Unfortunately, two big players in the Southern forest industry continue to stand in the way of progress: (IP) and one of its biggest customers of fast food packaging, KFC and its parent company Yum! Brands. Unlike GP, who has engaged proactively with us in an earnest effort to find solutions, IP and KFC continue to deny there’s a problem, covering up forest destruction as good for the environment and refusing to even engage in meaningful dialogue on the issues.
Perhaps today’s announcement with GP will spark a much needed breakthrough with IP and KFC. We’re ready for another roller coaster ride. Come on IP and KFC! Jump on board. Our communities need your help. Our forests need your leadership.
– Danna Smith, Executive Director
PS To dig deeper into this historic agreement, please explore the links throughout my letter…
On November 16, 2010, paper producing giant Georgia-Pacific made a very bold and very public commitment to protecting Southern forest by announcing that it would no longer purchase trees from endangered forests or from new pine plantations converted from natural hardwood forests.
GP worked with environmental groups and scientists to identify 11 endangered forests totaling 600,000 acres in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Eco-Region and 90 million acres of natural hardwood forests in the South. The company will continue to map endangered forests in these and other regions in the coming years. The 11 endangered forests identified so far are in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.
As for pine plantations, the company has stated it will not buy pine fiber from plantations that were created at the expense of natural hardwood forests as of July 1, 2008.
Georgia-Pacific’s commitment to increasing forest protection is the result of six years of engagement and discussions between the company and environmental groups like Dogwood Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council and Rainforest Action Network.
Learn more: Read Georgia-Pacific’s 2010 Environmental Policy
Earlier this month KFC and its parent company Yum! Brands, the largest restaurant company in the world, responded to Dogwood Alliance’s campaign by introducing reusable packaging containers for its side dishes. This was one of multiple requests we made of the company and we applaud the small step they have taken forward by becoming the first major fast food chain in the US to introduce reusable packaging. The fast food industry is one of the largest consumers of throwaway packaging in the world and our campaign challenges companies like KFC to find innovative solutions like the new reusable container to address the massive amount of waste associated with this industry and the environmental impacts of such consumption. In addition to the company’s earlier commitment to increase the amount of recycled paper it uses for its packaging we see this as a positive move forward toward a leadership position in the industry. Clearly these represent steps in the right direction. We hope this means KFC will indeed dig in and work to green its entire packaging supply chain.
In the same announcement, KFC also stated that 90% of its paper packaging is now certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). Unfortunately, since its creation by the largest paper and timber companies in the United States, the SFI has been lambasted by the environmental community as a rubber stamp, putting a fake green label on the most destructive forestry practices. In fact, there is currently a complaint before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking to shut down the SFI for false marketing claims and challenging its non-profit status.
Since we know a majority of KFC’s paper packaging comes from the Southern US and have traced the company’s iconic bucket to the destruction of endangered forests on the mid-Atlantic coast, the SFI seal of approval means more destruction of the lands, waterways and communities we hold dear in our region. In addition to certifying the logging of endangered forests, the SFI allows for large-scale clearcutting, conversion of natural forests to sterile pine plantations, massive use of toxic chemical in forest management, the use of genetically engineered trees, ditching and draining of wetlands, and various other destructive practices. By embracing the SFI, KFC is siding with the worst of the worst paper companies and greenwashing the continued devastation of the forests and communities of its home region.
A clear path forward would be to integrate more of our sustainable packaging requests of the company as they continue down the promised road to sustainability. In addition to reusable containers and increased use of post-consumer recycled paper, the company needs to look at strategies for reducing its overall paper use and implement recycling initiatives so all the packaging does not end up as litter or in a landfill. On sustainable paper sourcing, the company should eliminate its most controversial sources of paper and switch to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which is embraced by environmental organizations worldwide as the only certification system that prevents the worst practices in the woods. Unlike the SFI, the FSC does not allow logging of endangered forests, continued conversion of natural forests to plantations, ditching and draining of wetlands, the use of genetically engineered trees, and the widespread use of toxic chemicals.
Clearly KFC is making progress and we appreciate that. Unfortunately its journey to sustainability is not complete and we fear the company has been duped by and other paper companies who hide behind the SFI. We hope that KFC will not continue to fall victim to the industry’s greenwashing and will meet all of our requests. KFC is well-positioned to be a real leader in the fast food industry and all it takes now is a little greater resolve to protect the forests and communities of its home region, the Southern US.
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