Leadership by Example

There is a rising international movement challenging the status quo that is devoted to responsible and sustainable packaging. And the thinking behind this initiative is reaching the marketplace. Waste reduction, smart design, recycled content, responsibly sourced paper fiber and even rethinking the need for packaging altogether; these are the ideas behind the very real efforts by Corporate America to fix its packaging problem. Please read more for information on these corporate leaders and click here for other sustainable packaging initiatives.

Certainly there are useful functions of packaging —maintaining freshness, providing safety, and protecting products in transport. But far too often goods are egregiously over packaged and not recycled, resulting in the needless waste of resources.

We know that corporations have a strong interest in marketing and brand identity, but because paper packaging ultimately only serves as packaging that provides for safe and economical protection of the actual product within, industry can do better without having to redesign or re-manufacture particular products. And, if this transformation is handled with creativity and skill, with no loss of sales, market share or profit. Because these leadership companies have done the work to break away from the pack and make change, we want to recognize their efforts and showcase that change is possible. Across America there are successful corporations greening their paper packaging. We call it leadership by example and feature their smart and responsible packaging decisions to show that yes it can be done. And we call on the rest of Corporate America to do their part!

KEEN Shoes

The folks at KEEN Shoes have totally upgraded the plain old shoe box. They are going 100% recycled box for all Spring 2007 styles, replacing the current black box.

Check out how the box folds flat making it easy to be recycled yet again. Isn’t it great to know that somewhere, somehow maybe another shoe box can be made from old shoe boxes and not our forests! And, KEEN’s Eco carton is 100% biodegradable and produced with 100% post-consumer waste. Maybe because they are a shoe company they know that small steps can lead to big changes.

Clif Bar

In 2001, Clif Bar began their sustainability efforts in earnest and committed themselves to reducing their environmental impact across the board including moving towards zero waste and greening their packaging materials. They are honest in their appraisal about the process: According to Clif Bar “Producing environmentally-sound packaging is a difficult challenge, and one we’re still working on.” But they have made real progress!

Clif Bar redesigned their product caddies in 2002 to eliminate shrink-wrap, they have avoided the cumulative use of more than 450,000 pounds of shrink-wrap and saved more than $2 million in expenses. Next they asked why use paper packaging made from virgin tree fiber at the expense of our forests. In 2003, they switched to 100% (50% post-consumer) recycled paperboard for all their caddies. According to Clif Bar, switching to unbleached recycled paperboard for the 15 million caddies a year Clif Bar achieved impressive annual environmental benefits:11,000 Trees saved; 5 million gallons water saved: 6 million BTUs Energy saved: (enough energy to run 58 homes for a year); and 990,000 pounds CO2 emissions avoided: (that’s equal to taking 82 cars off the road for a year) And their bars are good too!

Patagonia

Patagonia has done some great work over the years. They have managed to find environmental improvements in their packaging which simultaneously boosted their bottomline. And their longjohns are pretty good too.

Here’s what they say: “In the early days of our base layer business, when we were still selling polypropelene, we packaged it in a plastic bag with a cardboard tag, which cost us 20 cents per unit. Next, we shifted to paper packaging, similar to a mini grocery store bag. Our environmental impact was lower, and the cost came down to 16 cents a unit. Now, with our Capilene line, we just roll up the bare garment and wrap it with a recycled cardboard card and two rubber bands. We call it the “sushi roll.”… It’s reduced our costs to 6 cents per unit and eliminated tons of waste. As an added advantage, the exposed packaging allows customers to touch the product, which has actually increased sales. Retailers thought it was going to be terrible: they told us time and time again that consumers would hate the sushi roll. But again, when you do the right thing, success follows.

Environmentalists Applaud Bowater’s Dedication to Action; Request Company’s Follow-Through in Impending Land Sales

Asheville, North Carolina – Today marked the first anniversary of a landmark agreement between Bowater, Inc, one of the Southern United States’ largest paper producers, and environmental groups Dogwood Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).  The agreement set forth a plan to preserve and protect the unique forested landscapes of the Cumberland Plateau and the Southern U.S.  The accord marked the first commitment by a large paper producer to dramatically alter its forest management practices, including ending conversion of native forests to sterile pine plantations.

Over the last year, Bowater has already taken dramatic and important steps toward altering its most damaging practices.  Most importantly, Bowater has nearly eliminated conversion of native hardwood forests to pine plantations on company lands and the company has begun the process of educating landowners it purchases trees from that Bowater will no longer accept fiber from land that has been converted to plantations after the end of next year.

In addition implementation of tighter controls on Bowater’s aerial spraying operations, have included notifying local land owners of intent to spray and switching from fixed wing airplanes to helicopters in order to exert tighter control over applications.  The company has also conducted a study of thousands of acres of its holdings in conjunction with the state of Tennessee in order to identify areas in need of greater protection and has not logged or put any of these lands on the market for sale with its other landholdings pending completion and full analysis of the study.

“We congratulate Bowater on its good faith effort to adhere to the agreement and substantially improve its forestry practices,” said Andrew Goldberg, Implementation Director for Dogwood Alliance.  “Whereas many companies, like , continue to blow hot air when it comes to the environment, Bowater is really putting its money where its mouth is.”

It is a time of transition for the forest products industry as millions of acres of commercial timberland have recently been sold across the Southeast and Bowater announced plans in November 2005 to sell 365,000 acres of timber lands in the region, primarily in Tennessee.  While the sale of Bowater’s Southern timberlands will undoubtedly effect implementation of the agreement, the company will remain a key player impacting Southern forests and will continue to be the largest paper producer on the Cumberland Plateau.

Regardless of any transfers in ownership of its timberlands, the cornerstone of the agreement, Bowater’s commitment to stop buying pine fiber from third-party landowners that convert natural forests to pine plantations after 2007, will remain in effect. After the sale it is anticipated that Bowater will continue to source heavily from these and other timberlands across the Cumberland Plateau. This agreement will provide critical protection for this special area, which is one of the most biologically important areas on the continent, and stands as a crucial environmental benchmark for the entire paper industry.

“It is our hope that future owners of Bowater’s forestland will uphold the spirit set forth by this ground-breaking commitment,” continued Goldberg.  “We trust that the company will set the right course by selling the most special places to conservation buyers and identify stewardship minded forestry operations for a vast majority of its remaining lands.”

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To read the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Bowater, Dogwood Alliance, and NRDC, visit:  Bowater Memorandum of Understanding Summary

Dogwood Alliance is a network of over seventy organizations around the Southern United States working to end unsustainable industrial forestry practices.  For more information about Dogwood Alliance, visit:  http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/

Dogwood Alliance Celebrates First Anniversary of Landmark Agreement with Bowater to Protect Southern Forests

Historic Accord Begins Trasformation of the Paper Industry

June 29, 2006 marked the first anniversary of a landmark agreement between Bowater, Inc, one of the Southern United States’ largest paper producers, and environmental groups Dogwood Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The agreement set forth a plan to preserve and protect the unique forested landscapes of the Cumberland Plateau and the Southern U.S. The accord marked the first commitment by a large paper producer to dramatically alter its forest management practices, including ending conversion of native forests to sterile pine plantations.

Over the last year, Bowater has already taken dramatic and important steps toward altering its most damaging practices. Most importantly, Bowater has nearly eliminated conversion of native hardwood forests to pine plantations on company lands and the company has begun the process of educating landowners it purchases trees from that Bowater will no longer accept fiber from land that has been converted to plantations after the end of next year.

In addition implementation of tighter controls on Bowater’s aerial spraying operations, have included notifying local land owners of intent to spray and switching from fixed wing airplanes to helicopters in order to exert tighter control over applications. The company has also conducted a study of thousands of acres of its holdings in conjunction with the state of Tennessee in order to identify areas in need of greater protection and has not logged or put any of these lands on the market for sale with its other landholdings pending completion and full analysis of the study.

“We congratulate Bowater on its good faith effort to adhere to the agreement and substantially improve its forestry practices,” said Andrew Goldberg, Implementation Director for Dogwood Alliance. “Whereas many companies, like , continue to blow hot air when it comes to the environment, Bowater is really putting its money where its mouth is.”

Click here to read the press release about today’s important anniversary.

Click here to read the accord signed between Bowater, Dogwood Alliance and NRDC on June 29, 2005

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