June, 2008 Newsletter

GpI News

greenpressinitiative.com has a new look and feel
GPI now has a new website. It is our hope that this new website will be a better resource for those in the book and newspaper industries to better understand the impacts of publishing and the solutions to minimize impacts. Included in the new website are toolkits, environmental policy templates, environmental paper and supplier listings, and action steps for publishers, printers and paper mills to reduce social and environmental impacts. 
 

In the news

Diverse Group of Stakeholders Meet to Discuss Pulp and Paper Impacts in Indonesia
On April 10^th, a wide range of stakeholders met at Random House’s corporate headquarters in New York. Those in attendance included representatives from publishing houses, paper producers and distributors, environmental organizations, financial institutions such as Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, and retailers of office supplies and stationary including Wal-Mart, Staples and Office Depot. The Roundtable  offered a first-hand opportunity to better understand the issues related to the tremendous impacts of the pulp and paper industry on the climate and Indonesia’s forests, people, and critical species. Major topics of discussion included the implications of the rapid and often illegal deforestation occurring in Indonesia, the impacts on climate change that result from converting Indonesia’s peat bogs and tropical forests into monoculture tree plantations, and the social impacts felt by communities that depend on the forest for their livelihood. In the short time since the event, several of the companies present have engaged with GPI and other organizations to help them develop tools and strategies that would minimize impacts in Indonesia.  

Scholastic, Chelsea Green Win 2008 Sustain Print Awards
The 2008 Newcomer of the Year Sustainprint award was granted to Scholastic, while Chelsea Green won the award for long time leadership.  Scholastic’s award comes following the announcement earlier in the year that the children’s publisher has a policy that will aim to increase the use of recycled fiber to 25% and FSC certified paper to 30% within five years.  Chelsea Green, which was founded in 1984 prints all of their books on recycled paper, and many of the publisher’s titles focus on environmental sustainability. The Company has also developed a “Green Partners Program” which encourages retailers to create displays highlighting books about sustainability, and sells books on a no returns basis to reduce impacts associated with shipping.

Book Industry Environmental Council to Create Environmental Standards, Develop Mechanisms for Tracking Progress.
The recently announced Book Industry Environmental Council will play a significant role in reducing the social and environmental impacts of the book industry. One of the first tasks of the council will be to establish standards and criteria for a label that will identify a book as being produced in an environmental responsible manner. Other initial priorities include developing standards and mechanisms for tracking the book industry’s environmental progress, and developing guidelines for reducing the industry's carbon footprint. Founding members of the council include: The Book Industry Study Group, Borders, Cascades, Chelsea Green, Chronicle Books, Continuum, Domtar, Lantern Books, Maple-Vail, Melcher Media, New Leaf Paper, Pinnacle Press, Random House, RR Donnelley, Scholastic, and Thomson-Shore.

The first meeting of the council will be help in New York City on June 11, 2008. The opportunity to participate is open to all segments of the book industry. Companies interested in participating should send an email to erin@greenpressinitiative.org or call 301-438-3927.

Roundtable Discusses Strategies to Ensure Adequate Deinking Capacity
On March 31st, 2008, the Environmental Paper Network (EPN) hosted the second annual Recovered Fiber Roundtable, continuing the discussion from last year’s “Beating the Bottleneck” event.  Sixty-five stakeholders, many returning from last year and many new, participated in a dialogue on the  topic of ensuring a viable supply of high grade recovered fiber and adequate deinking capacity in the North American paper industry to meet the growing demand for paper with recycled content. Attendees at the roundtable discussed a variety topics relating to deinking capacity, including communication strategies for key decision makers, government incentives, deinking capacity needs and opportunities, and fiber collection systems. For a more detailed summary of the event, list of attendees and copies of presentations, please visit: http://www.environmentalpaper.org/beatingthebottleneck2008.htm  

Boise Inc to Stop Sourcing Fiber from Traditional Lands of Grassy Narrows First nation
In late February, Boise, Inc. notified logging company AbitibiBowater that they wish to discontinue using fiber sourced from the traditional lands of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. For years, there has been pressure on companies to stop sourcing fiber from the traditional lands of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. The Grassy Narrows is an indigenous community in northern Ontario, which has a treaty with the Canadian Government granting them rights to use their traditional land area. More than half of the traditional land area of the Grassy Narrows First Nation, which is relied upon for hunting and trapping, has been clear-cut, and members of the community have established a blockade, aimed at preventing logging trucks from accessing portions of their land. To read more about Boise’s decision to discontinue using fiber from the Grassy Narrows First Nation’s traditional lands, see: http://ran.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=4738  

Random House on Target to Meet Environmental Goals
Two years after announcing an industry leading environmental policy, Random House is ahead of schedule towards meeting the environmental commitments laid out in the policy.  The policy set a goal of increasing the use of recycled fiber to 10% by 2007 and 30% by 2010. In 2007 16% of the fiber Random House used was recycled, exceeding the company’s 2008 goal of 15%. Additionally, Random House has implemented several other environmental initiatives including achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for its headquarters in New York, and the company has become the first publisher to join the EPA Climate Leaders Program, which allows companies to develop strategies to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

New Research & Reports

Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts Report
The report titled Climate Impacts and Environmental Trends: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry  has been discussed in over 100 media outlets including abc news, NPR, Fortune, Publishers’ Weekly, and the Los Angeles Times. The report, which was developed by Green Press Initiative, and the Book Industry Study Group discusses environmental trends in the book industry, and calculates the carbon footprint of the industry.  The full report and a summary of findings are available at: https://www.greenpressinitiative.org/orderform.htm

If you, or your company is a member of a book industry trade organization/association you may purchase the report at a 30% discount. 

New Report Calls Canadian Boreal  Forest “Carbon Bomb”
A new report which looks at the most recent scientific evidence finds that not only does logging the Canadian boreal forest have significant impacts on climate change, but that climate change has significant impacts on the Boreal Forest. Warmer temperatures increase insect infestations and wildfires, which result in greater carbon emissions, and reduces the forest’s ability to mitigate the impacts of climate change.  To learn more about this dangerous cycle affecting the Canadian Boreal, the forest that stores more carbon than any other on earth, see the full report at: http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/boreal/recent-developments/turninguptheheat

New World Resource Institute Report Discusses Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-Based Products
A new tool developed by the World Resources Institute provides questions and considerations that can be addressed when determining if wood and paper products are obtained in a way that minimizes social and environmental impacts. The report includes “10 things you should know” about the product, as well as lists of  Environmental and Social aspects that should be considered.  The Report is available at: http://www.sustainableforestprods.org/

Industry News from Mills, Merchants & Printers

American Forest and Paper Association Increases Paper Recovery goal for 2012
In 2007, a record 56% of all paper used in the United States was recovered for recycling, a level that exceeded the previous goal of 55% by 2012. In light of the achievement, the American Forest and Paper Association announced a new recovery goal for 2012 of 60%. For more information see: http://www.afandpa.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/PressRelease/
PressReleaseDisplay.cfm&PressReleaseID=895

Crackdown on Illegal Logging Increases Price of Indonesian Pulp A recent crackdown on illegal logging in Indonesia has reduced the timber supply. As a result of this reduced supply pulp prices are reported to have increased by about 25% compared to a year ago. Pulp production in Indonesia reached a peak in 2006 at 5.6 million tons. It has been estimated that as much as 65% of all logging in Indonesia occurs illegally, and rampant deforestation has significantly impacted wildlife in Indonesia, as well as an estimated 30 million people who rely directly on the forest for their livelihood. Deforestation in Indonesia is also linked to climate change as large quantities of carbon are released when forests on the country’s peat bogs are cleared or burned.
For more information about the crackdown on illegal logging in Indonesia visit http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=62664

For more information about the book industry’s impacts on Indonesia visit http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/impacts/indonesiaforests.htm

Publishers Weekly Highlights Book Industry Climate Impacts and Environmental Trends Report
The March 10^th issue of Publishers Weekly contained a feature article discussing the “Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts” report produced by Green Press Initiative and the Book Industry Study Group. The article discusses the carbon footprint of the U.S. book industry, trends in the use of environmentally responsible paper, and the growing number of publishers that have strong environmental policies in place.

The Publishers Weekly article can be read online at: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6539660.html

The report is available at:
https://www.greenpressinitiative.org/orderform.htm

Glatfelter Natures Now FSC Certified Fiber
Glatfelter's Natures, a paper commonly used by publishers and printers seeking to reduce environmental impacts, is now Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified and contains 30% post consumer recycled fiber. FSC is widely regarded as ensuring the best practices in forest management.

GPI maintains a list of printers supplying environmentally responsible papers. This list contains more than 30 printers, approximately half of which have obtained FSC chain-of-custody certification   
 

IP to develop new pulp mill, plantation in Indonesia
Paper Giant International Paper is planning to invest $4 Billion to build a new pulp mill and establish a 1.2 million acre plantation in Indonesia. This decision, which has been criticized by Rainforest Action Network and other conservation organizations, violates IP’s own policy developed in 2003, which states “International Paper will not procure or use wood that originates in biological hotspots or endangered, native forests in Indonesia or other parts of the world designated by Conservation International, as biodiversity hotspots or major tropical wilderness areas. We will assure that any wood procured from within the boundaries of these special areas comes solely from plantations and that our procurement practices do not jeopardize the ecological integrity of these hotspots.”  For more information see http://ran.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=4757

Tools & rESOURCES

New Survey for Sourcing Paper from Asia
A new survey has been developed for publishers sourcing paper from Asia. The survey can be provided to paper suppliers and used as a tool to gain a better understanding of the company’s social and environmental impacts and policies. This survey is can be downloaded at: http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/documents/Fiber_Footprint_Survey-Indonesia.doc

Updated Paper and Supplier Listings
Updated lists of environmentally responsible papers and printers that stock environmental grade papers are available at http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/action/suppliers.htm

Toolkit for publishers is available at:
https://www.greenpressinitiative.org/documents/BookPublisherToolkit.pdf

Toolkit for Printers is available at:
https://www.greenpressinitiative.org/documents/PrinterToolkit.pdf  

Upcoming Events

American Library Association (ALA) convention

Saturday, June 28 from 3-5pm  to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center

Greening of the Presses -In recent years publishers, paper mills, and printers examined the environmental impacts of book publishing and printing. Many are committing time, dollars, and expertise in making positive environmental transformations within the book industry. Speakers from the Green Press Initiative, the Book Industry Study Group, New Society Press, and the American Library Association Task Force on the Environment will talk about these transformations and provide insights about the growing trend for environmental stewardship within the publishing world. Sponsored by the Social Responsibilities Round Table’s Task Force on the Environment. For more information see: http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2008a/programs.cfm


This newsletter and the Green Press Initiative is made possible through the support of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, Merck Family Fund, Town Creek Foundation, FSC Global Fund, Wallace Global Foundation, and the Weeden Foundation.