Spring is in the air, and that means it’s once again time for the annual Green Fest in Decatur, Georgia — hosted by and benefiting Dogwood Alliance. Our Georgia-based volunteer corps, led by Dogwood board members John Beal Lori Leech as well as former board member Jeff Hix of Indoff Green Office Products, work hard each year to put this fantastic event together. As a result, it’s Dogwood’s most successful fundraising and “friend raising” gathering.
Green Fest attracts more than 4,000 people annually and is growing every year. This free, family-oriented, outdoor festival features a tasting area of local and organic food and beverages, live music, local beer, a kids’ zone, artists specializing in recycled materials, and products/information from 60 different eco-friendly and fair-trade vendors and environmental groups. Dogwood Alliance staff will take center stage as hosts and lead environmental presenters.
Two exciting new features this year include two solar & wind-powered stages from Tree Leaf Music and the release of Terrapin Beer’s Tree Hugger Altbier, a limited edition brew to support Dogwood Alliance and Decatur Green Fest. You can only get this special beer on draught in the Atlanta area, so be sure to grab a taste if you’re coming in from out of town. If you’re a local, watch for a series of Terrapin pub events leading up to Green Fest!
“This event gives us the chance to reach out to thousands of potential supporters, many of whom will learn about Dogwood Alliance for the first time,” says Beal. “Decatur is the greenest part of Atlanta, and the support we’ve received from this community and the event sponsors is incredibly rewarding and encouraging.”
The 2012 Decatur Green Fest promises to be another great success, largely due to the commitment and support of our sponsors:
To learn more, visit the Decatur Green Fest website and be sure to check out the new video! We’ll see you at Green Fest on the 12th!
At Dogwood Alliance, we’re expanding our horizons, and Patrick Fitzsimmons is just the person to help! Patrick joined Dogwood Alliance as Development Director on March 20th. After a long career with the Red Cross, including several years as Regional CEO, Patrick was ready to apply his considerable marketing and fundraising skills in a new way.
“I had a great career at the Red Cross, but I was looking for a different kind of experience that would still be meaningful work. Luckily, I found Dogwood,” he says.
“Not only does Patrick come from a background of community organizing on environmental issues, but he has a long track record of successful experience fundraising in the South through his many years at the Red Cross,” says Dogwood Executive Director Danna Smith. “He is a great fit for Dogwood, and we are very excited about being able to tap into his passion, experience and talents to build greater capacity to protect the South’s forests from destructive industrial forestry.”
Fitzsimmons has a great deal of volunteer experience with social justice organizations, and sees his work with Dogwood as a natural extension of that. “There’s a tie between how the environment is degraded and how portions of our population are degraded as well. For example, a great deal of forest destruction occurs near communities of poverty, causing harmful environmental effects. Helping people see their connection to the environment is a big part of social justice.”
What excites Fitzsimmons the most about his new post is the opportunity to bring the message of Dogwood to a wider audience and get more people to support the work of protecting Southern forests. “I spent my career helping to protect people from disaster. Now I get to help protect forests from disaster,” he quips.
Contact Patrick and welcome him at [email protected].
Last week on March 14, ArborGen, a leader in genetically engineered tree research and development, experienced a major shake up when its Board announced “new leadership changes at its senior executive level,” [1] after the failure of the company to go public on the NASDAQ in 2011. [2] Most significantly, Barbara Wells, their CEO and President since 2002 was replaced.
Today, Global Justice Ecology Project announced their new report, An Analysis of the State of GE Trees and Advanced Bioenergy, which details the evolution of the issue of GE trees from 2010 through 2012 and the global campaign to prohibit the release of GE trees.
The report reveals government, industry, university and research institution collusion to advance development of GE trees specifically designed for bioenergy production in the US and globally.
It also describes the impacts of a 2010 lawsuit against GE trees [3] brought against the USDA by a coalition of environmental organizations [4] that had a chilling effect on the GE trees industry by scaring off investors. [5]
“Global Justice Ecology Project published this new report to inform the public about the problems with genetically engineered trees and to highlight what is going on to stop them,” said Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project, and Coordinator of the STOP GE Trees Campaign. “This exposé reveals government-industry backroom deals that are using the crisis of climate change and the need for renewable energy to stack the deck in favor of the mass-release of millions of GE trees to feed bioenergy production,” Petermann added.
The report critiques a recent USDA announcement regarding forthcoming changes to their regulatory procedures for reviewing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to enable corporations to bring their GE products to market in half the time it used to take–down from three years to 13-16 months. One of the GMO plants that would be included in this rapid review process is ArborGen’s GE eucalyptus tree. [6]
Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director for the North Carolina-based Dogwood Alliance stated, “The USDA can’t possibly review GE eucalyptus trees in 13-16 months. GE eucalyptus trees are non-native, invasive, explosively flammable and deplete ground water. Developing plantations of them in a region that often suffers from extensive drought would be a disaster.” [7]
“If they rush approval of GE trees, the USDA is risking a huge public backlash and a lengthy legal challenge,” warned Global Justice Ecology Project Board Chair Orin Langelle.
In addition to exposing the rapid, government-supported development of GE trees in the US, the report discusses international strategies used by industry to open markets for GE tree products. This includes attempts to greenwash GE trees by creating phony sustainability criteria for them.
To download the March 20, 2012 report, go to: Analysis of the Current State of GE Trees and Advanced Bioenergy.
Notes to Editors:
1. http://www.rubicon-nz.com/main.cfm?menu=news&itemid=115
2. BIOTECH: Tree developer postpones IPO
3. Groups Sue Government Over GMO Trees
4. Global Justice Ecology Project, Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, Center for Food Safety, International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Biological Diversity
5. Lawsuit highlights a barrier to biotechnology advancements in the U.S.
6. Monsanto, Dow Gene-Modified Crops to Get Faster U.S. Reviews
7. So-Called Confined field releases of GM Eucalyptus neither confined nor safe
Can the Team Embrace Their New Star’s Strategy and Make the Sweet 16? Or Will They Continue to Hack and Slash to an Early Exit?
Louisville, KY – In the biggest surprise on selection Sunday, the KFC Forest Destroyers shocked the nation by winning their conference tourney to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The KFC Forest Destroyers, who have never made the tournament in their 70-year history, are led by their iconic, slick-talking coach, Colonel Sanders. After slicing and dicing their way to zero wins all season, new star Chief Sustainability Officer and Point Guard, Roger McClendon and former all-American at Cincinnati, has rallied the team around a new “green” strategy. Can Roger lead the Forest Destroyers to the Final Four? Or will they revert to their destructive ways?
With shocking victories thus far over the North Carolina Venus Flytraps and the Piney State Woodpeckers, who they pummeled to near extinction, they are set to make history with a victory Saturday versus the Kentucky Pride, and would become the first 16th ranked team to make the Sweet 16. The team hopes to march through the tournament and meet the number one seed, McDonalds Green, the most sustainable team in the field right now.
The KFC Forest Destroyers are the first college team to be sponsored by a major corporation and are owned by Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Coach Sanders, has trained his team in running screens and dribbling around the issues with fast talking and greenwashing. It wasn’t until their new point guard brought in a new green strategy that the Forest Destroyers even considered changing.
Unfortunately, Coach Sanders and the KFC executives are not sold on the new strategy. “Forests of the Southern Region may be a magical place but we are going to hack and slash our way through them to make enough buckets to win,” said Coach Sanders. “So far we have decimated the Venus Flytraps and those pesky Woodpeckers and the only thing standing in our way now is Kentucky Pride!”
The Forest Destroyers, pumped up by their play thus far, were out and about during the day on Saturday, entertaining the crowd at the Yum Center in Louisville, before their game that night. They hacked and slashed their way around the crowd and were light-hearted despite the pressure of the spotlight.
“We are here to win and no endangered species or wetlands are going to stand in the way of victory,” said Henry “Stump” Sanders, the coach’s son and starting power forward. “We’re gonna leave the Pride in the dust and win at any cost!”
KFC, the namesake company of the Forest Destroyers, is known for its chicken that comes in the iconic bucket. Unfortunately, those buckets come from the endangered forests of the Southern Swamplands that stretch from Southeast Virginia all of the way to the Georgia coast and include such beautiful places as the Green Swamp in southeastern North Carolina. Environmental group Dogwood Alliance, joined by community activists, has been trying to play zone defense against the Forest Destroyers, thus far to no avail. The North Carolina based organization, launched a website, www.kentuckyfriedforests.org detailing KFC’s flagrant fouls.
The best hope of transforming the Forest Destroyers from hackers and slackers to a truly balanced and sustainable team, strangely enough, is current Chief Sustainability Officer for Yum! Brands, Roger McClendon. McClendon, a star at the Cincinnati Bearcats in the mid-80’s, can help elevate the team and lead KFC down the path to a sustainable future. He had all the right moves when he was challenging Oscar Robertson as the top scorer in the school’s history and right now, Dogwood Alliance and fans alike are hoping he will take the reigns and turn the Forest Destroyer’s into Forest Protectors.
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To learn more about the team’s Corporate Sponsor’s role in Southern forest destruction visit: www.kentuckyfriedforests.org
Stay tuned for a video short chronicling the story of the KFC Forest Destroyers…
Today, Dogwood Alliance released “Greening Fast Food Packaging: A Roadmap to Best Practices,” which outlines eight key attributes of environmentally friendly fast food packaging, and provides simple guidance on how to assess environmental impacts in the supply chain. The report highlights leaders in the fast food industry that have undertaken key initiatives that will help move the entire sector forward. Also included is a valuable action plan to focus corporate sustainability efforts.
Issues associated with greening fast food packaging are complex, and improvement requires an intentional and comprehensive approach. The roadmap reveals straightforward opportunities for companies to take meaningful action rather than greenwashing empty efforts. Leaders in the sector such as McDonald’s and Starbucks have proven that with a commitment from the top leadership down, real progress is possible.
For fast food companies, the key place to start is with paper packaging. Paper makes up the lion’s share of fast food packaging, and destructive impacts to forests and communities from paper production are well documented. The work begins when corporate leadership adopts an environmental paper packaging policy that includes reduction in overall use of packaging, increase in use of recycled fiber, and elimination of controversial sources of paper, including fiber from endangered forests, and natural forests converted to tree plantations.
“Real leadership emerged from companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks who have taken important steps to reduce packaging, increase the use of recycled content, and eliminate controversial sources of paper originating from destructive logging practices,” said Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director at Dogwood Alliance and one of the report’s authors. “Unfortunately, some companies have chosen to simply paint their paper packaging green by utilizing the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification which actually certified destructive logging practices as sustainable.”
The report highlights key leaders who stepped out from the pack to take initiative on the eight key attributes. For example, Starbucks has committed to reducing the overall use of packaging and pushed the FDA to increase the maximum allowable recycled content in food grade packaging. Another great example of leadership came from McDonald’s, who adopted an industry leading environmental packaging policy that included both continued progress on the increased use of recycled fiber but also took a comprehensive approach to its non-recycled paper packaging. That commitment eliminates fiber coming from the conversion of natural forests to plantations and gives a clear preference to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper, the only paper certification broadly endorsed by the environmental community. These initiatives involved multiple stakeholders, from packaging suppliers to environmental organizations, and set the new standard for excellence.
Unfortunately, while there are standout leaders, a number of key companies continue to greenwash rather than take real action. The report shines the spotlight on companies like Yum! Brands, the target of the Dogwood Alliance Kentucky Fried Forests campaign, who rely on the highly-criticized SFI certification, which certifies as sustainable the worst forest practices including logging of endangered forests, conversion of natural forests to plantations, and large-scale clearcutting.
In addition to highlighting the key issues associated with paper packaging – reduction, increased use recycled fiber, and elimination of controversial paper sources – the report highlights other attributes for across the board greening of a company’s packaging. The other key attributes include corporate leadership, utilizing a full life cycle approach, increasing in-store recycling and recovery, eliminating toxic inks and labels, and managing the overall carbon footprint.
“We hope that by boiling down complex issues into a straightforward, stepwise action plan, companies can make progress on their packaging, creating a win-win for our forests and the corporate bottom-line,” continued Quaranda. “By following our roadmap and working with experts in key areas associated with the packaging supply chain, more companies can lead rather than lag further behind.”
The full report, which also includes an easy to use pull-out supplier survey to assess a company’s current packaging, can be reviewed and downloaded at http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/0911104-Dogwood-Packaging-Report-Final.pdf# # #
Dogwood Alliance is increasing protection for millions of acres of Southern forests by transforming the way corporations, landowners and communities value them for their climate, wildlife and water benefits. Dogwood Alliance has revolutionized the environmental practices of some of the world’s largest corporations. To support Dogwood Alliance’s call for KFC to adopt sustainable packaging practices send a letter to KFC leadership via www.kentuckyfriedforests.com, for more information on the organization visit www.dogwoodalliance.org.
Much has been written from a theoretical perspective about markets for ecosystem services, few on-the-ground projects currently exist. WRI has just published a new brief, to discuss one that does, an innovative project called The Carbon Canopy, led by Asheville-based Dogwood Alliance and office products company Staples. The project is a consortium of companies (including Columbia Forest Products, Domtar and Coca Cola), large and small private woodland owners, and environmental organizations (including Rainforest Alliance and Pacific Forest Trust) that seeks to leverage markets for ecosystem services with the aim of increasing the area of protected lands in the Southern US and increase the acreage of forests certified under sustainable management. Carbon Canopy is developing a win-win model for businesses, landowners and environmental groups working to conserve forests in the South, the largest paper and wood-producing region in the world, through the new carbon marketplace.
When managed appropriately, forests can yield many economic, climate, water, and other benefits, including forest products. And placing forests under sustainable certification can help ensure these benefits into the future. However, only a small portion of the 214 million acres of Southern U.S. forests are currently certified to sustainable forest management standards. Many woodland owners lack information about certification and are uncertain of its financial benefits, and the limits on harvest volumes required to meet the guidelines often limit the size and revenue from timber harvesting.
The institutions in the Carbon Canopy partnership provide the technical and business expertise necessary to do actual project development, and Carbon Canopy acts as an important facilitator between the landowners and the corporate buyers of the carbon offsets and wood products.
Andrew Goldberg, Director of Corporate Engagement at Dogwood Alliance, views the development of the Carbon Canopy and the broader ecosystem services marketplace as a critical opportunity to protect Southern U.S. forests:
“The Carbon Canopy is building a new paradigm for landowners, one in which they can actually profit from improving forest management practices that protect our climate, water and biodiversity.”
Carbon Canopy leverages the greening of the US marketplace into a source of revenue for landowners that manage working forests for long-term carbon sinks under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest management and Climate Action Reserve (CAR) carbon accounting protocols. By building the FSC infrastructure and endorsing certified sustainable management where appropriate, Carbon Canopy also supports the greening of the forest products industry which is critical for rural economy.
Mark Buckley, VP of Environmental Affairs at Staples, believes that the Carbon Canopy approach offers a win-win solution:
“Staples and other buyers can purchase carbon offsets and the fiber supplied by engaged woodland owners and, in turn, woodland owners are financially compensated for providing valuable benefits to society, which helps protect forests.”
Currently, the Carbon Canopy has projects under development that span approximately 26,000 acres including both large and small private landowners in the Southern Appalachians of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. View the new WRI report Insights from the Field: Forests for Climate and Timber here. For more information, please contact: Andrew Goldberg.
Rare high elevation spruce forest on parcel being conserved under Carbon Canopy
Dogwood Alliance is celebrating 15 years of protecting forests, and we’re sharing the stories of our successes along the way with a monthly blog post series, “15 for the Forests.” This is post 2 of 15.
15 For the Forests: Changing the Office Supply Industry, Starting with Staples
After sinking its roots into organizing work with a campaign to stop chip mills in Southern forests, Dogwood Alliance decided to refine its approach in 2000 with a targeted effort to influence the paper marketplace. As it’s first target, Dogwood chose office supply leader Staples.
“Our Staples campaign marked the first time that the paper industry had been challenged in the marketplace,” recalls Doug Sloan, then board chain of Dogwood Alliance. Over two years, beginning with a national Day of Action on November 15, 2000, Dogwood Alliance organized more than 600 protests nationwide.
“We mobilized student groups, individual activists and other environmental groups in a national partnership with Forest Ethics,” says Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director. “We got the band REM to do public service announcements for us on MTV and VH1. Our executive director, Sarah Hodgdon was interviewed on The News Hour with Jim Leher, CNN Headline News and Marketplace on NPR. It was the first time we were able to engage people across the U.S. and in Canada in our work.”
Dogwood staff and volunteers also maintained a constant pressure on Staples’ leaders. “We would bring up the issues of forest conservation and Staples’ sourcing practices at shareholder meetings, publicly challenging their policies and requesting that they fly over our Southern forestlands to see the impacts of their actions. They agreed, which was a good sign.”
Dogwood Alliance first met with Staples’ leaders in person in January 2000. “They were receptive,” says Danna Smith. “It took two years of meetings, but they did finally adopt a policy. I remember sitting side-by-side with the vice chairman of their board to announce the end of the campaign and Staples’ groundbreaking new environmental policy. It was a great moment for Dogwood.”
Initially, Staples committed to sourcing paper that was at least 30% post-consumer recycled fiber and to sourcing nothing that is produced from endangered forests. Now their goal is to carry at least 50% post-consumer recycled content or FSC certified content for all of its paper products, making the company the environmental leader for its industry.
Who better to illustrate the future hope for our forests than kids? This summer the Dogwood Alliance team visited camps across Asheville, Western NC, and points beyond and invited youth to submit hand-drawn art about Southern forests as part of a summer-long contest. The winning design was to be featured on our new 15th anniversary t-shirts. We received over 400 entries, and the winner is Anne Hope, age 11, of Raleigh, NC who attended Camp Celo in Burnsville, NC.
The second place drawing was by Keegan, age 9, who attended Fletcher (NC) Day Camp. The third place drawing came from Alex, age 10, who attended day camp at the Reid Center in Asheville, NC. All three children received one of the new t-shirts and an award certificate.
The T-shirts bearing Anne Hope’s artwork were unveiled at Dogwood Alliance’s 15th Anniversary party on November 5th at Highland Brewing in Asheville.
The contest was judged by Asheville area artists Ursala Gullow, Kathryn Temple, and Satellite Gallery Owner Bill Thompson.
T-shirts are available in kids, women’s and men’s styles. Your purchase helps extend the work of Dogwood Alliance for another 15 years!
Help us celebrate in style!
Order today! You can order a t-shirt by becoming a member of Dogwood Alliance and making a $25 or greater donation. Please email Amanda and indicate your t-shirt size preference (Men’s American Apparel Brown/Tan Ringer S, M, L or XL; Women’s Blue S, M, L, or XL; Youth White Size 8, 10, or 12).
Concerned Customers & Activists Across the U.S. Demonstrate at Over 150 KFC Restaurants Calling on the Company to Green Its Packaging
Today, Colonel Sanders and various woodland creatures made appearances at over 150 KFC restaurants across the country and various locations in Europe to deliver a message, “Stop destroying Southern forests for your throwaway packaging.” The iconic KFC bucket and other KFC paper packaging comes from critical wetland forests and some of the last remaining special places on the southeastern coast.
The Colonel and crew were part of a national day of action, #OccupyKFC, organized by the Dogwood Alliance as part of the Kentucky Fried Forests campaign. Following on the heels of America Recycles Day, the organization is challenging KFC to use less paper, increase the use of post-consumer recycled paper in all of its packaging, recycle more and to adopt a sector-leading policy that ensures its packaging is made from paper from well managed forests and not contributing to the destruction of endangered forests or the replacement of natural forests with industrial tree plantations.
“Today, we stepped it up a level and hundreds of concerned citizens across the U.S. demonstrated at KFC restaurants demanding change,” said Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director at Dogwood Alliance. “KFC’s fast food packaging is destroying our forests but it doesn’t have to be that way. McDonald’s has shown leadership on these issues and it’s now time for KFC to be a responsible corporate citizen and do its part to end the rampant destruction of the special forests in the South to make its chicken buckets.”
For years, Dogwood Alliance has utilized their expertise in the sustainable sourcing of paper products to be a resource for major companies who are interested reduce the impacts of their paper and packaging on Southern forests, including Staples, McDonald’s, and Johnson & Johnson. Today, after more than four years of continued efforts by Dogwood Alliance to communicate with KFC and its parent company Yum!, they have demonstrated no meaningful concern for forests and affected communities, and refused to talk substantively about these important issues.
Instead, KFC has chosen to greenwash by slapping the controversial and ill-regarded Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification label on its packaging. The conservation community has called the SFI greenwashing, because it allows out-moded business as usual forestry practices including large-scale clearcutting, logging of endangered forests, conversion of natural forests to plantations, and widespread use of toxic chemicals.
Today’s action was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement which has been in the national spotlight for almost two months now. Included in the over 150 actions is a demonstration by the environmental solidarity group of Occupy Wall Street housed at Zuccotti Park in New York City until early yesterday morning. Because of the happenings in NYC, this particular action will happen this weekend or early next week. Additionally there were demonstrations from coast to coast and at various locations in Europe. The campaign will continue until KFC adopts a green packaging policy and takes real action to protect the forests of the Southern U.S.
KFC’s largest supplier in the South, (IP) has long been associated with destructive forestry practices. Notable has been the impact the company has had on the southeastern coast in places like North Carolina’s Green Swamp, where forested wetlands have been ditched and drained and converted to monoculture pine plantations, impacting endangered species such as the Venus Flytrap and causing flooding in nearby communities. As a major purchaser of paper products from , KFC has the ability to influence industry-wide change by committing to stop sourcing products from these damaging practices.
The Southern US is the largest paper producing region in the world providing 20% of the globe’s paper. Every year an area larger than the state of New Hampshire is clearcut. Yet the region is home to a large number of endangered plants and animals which hang in the balance. While other fast food companies, including McDonald’s, have introduced standards for sustainably sourced paper products from suppliers, KFC and its’ parent company, YUM! Brands, have been a slow mover in adopting practices.
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Dogwood Alliance is increasing protection for millions of acres of Southern forests by transforming the way corporations, landowners and communities value them for their climate, wildlife and water benefits. Dogwood Alliance has revolutionized the environmental practices of some of the world’s largest corporations. To support Dogwood Alliance’s call for KFC to adopt sustainable packaging practices send a letter to KFC leadership via www.kentuckyfriedforests.com, for more information on the organization visit www.dogwoodalliance.org.
To read the letter delivered today to store managers, visit here: Dear KFC Restaurant Manager
To watch a video Colonel Sanders released from the great yonder in support of #OccupyKFC visit here: https://youtu.be/GDFzdqsW_rg
To read more about McDonald’s recently announced environmental paper packaging policy, visit: http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/2011/03/mcdonalds-adopts-industry-leading-forest-standards-for-its-packaging/
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