The proof is in the woods.
Yesterday’s announcement from Office Depot that its top-selling recycled copy paper is now 30% post
consumer recycled content and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified marks an important milestone. Following our successful grassroots campaign and our ongoing engagement with Office Depot, our work has once again turned words into action in the form of improved on-the-ground management practices in the forests of the South.
With more than 1.4 million cases of Office Depot Green 30% Recycled EnviroCopy Paper sold annually, the switch dramatically increases the availability of FSC certified and post consumer recycled fiber paper in the U.S. marketplace. It also means more acres of well-managed FSC certified forests around producer Domtar’s mills in Ashdown, Arkansas; Kingsport, Tennessee; Marlboro, South Carolina and Hawesville, Kentucky.
As I say in the press release; “Office Depot’s new paper delivers the key components necessary for protecting forests in the Southern U.S. and around the world – high post-consumer recycled content and responsible forest management associated with FSC fiber. We are pleased to see the Company honor its environmental commitments and embrace these attributes in a high volume product and wish them success in the marketplace.”
So there you have it, the Dogwood Alliance strategy of working to improve the environmental paper practices of the large corporate paper buyers to protect forests in the South continues to get results. Thanks to Office Depot’s Director of Environmental Strategy for working hard to develop and market a greener paper coming from the South, thanks to Domtar for leading the southern paper industry in its commitment to improved forestry practices, thanks to our colleagues at ForestEthics for their help on the Green Grades, and as always thanks to our members, activists and donors who make this important work to transform the paper industry and protect Southern forests possible.
