Sears Sharper Image Spiegel Top Forest Naughty List

Forest Ethics and its Catalog Cutdown campaign have released its annual Naughty and Nice list which grades catalog senders on environmental paper practices.

Chicago-based Sears Holdings Corporation, with catalog offerings including Sears, Lands’ End and the recently acquired K-Mart, ranks among the top catalog producers in North America. Forest Ethics says that the catalogs are made up of trees cut from endangered forests and have “little to no recycled content.”

The group has had a number of successful campaigns against catalog companies. Limited Brands (parent company of Victoria’s Secret, Express, Bath & Body Works, and The Limited), for example, signed a new forest policy following a long Forest Ethics’ campaign.

In its Naughty and Nice list, 21 companies were evaluated according to four criteria: whether or not endangered forests are cut to produce the company’s catalogs; whether the company uses Forest Stewardship Council Certified paper; the amount of post-consumer recycled content in the company’s catalogs; and the extent of the company’s efforts to reduce overall paper consumption.

Patagonia, Williams-Sonoma, Victoria’s Secret (see link above), Dell, Timberland, Crate & Barrel, REI, L.L. Bean, and J. Crew ended up on the nice list.

JC Penney, Macy’s/Bloomingdales, and PC Mall made the checking twice list.

Neiman Marcus, Talbots/J. Jill, OfficeMax, Lands’ End, Eddie Bauer, School Specialty, Sharper Image, Spiegel, and Sears follow up on the naughty list.

Recycline Adds Paperstone Cutting Boards to Product Line

Massachusetts-based Recycline, makers of the Preserve brand of environmentally friendly products mostly made from #5 PP, the company has added two new cutting boards made from Paperstone to its Preserve Kitchen product line.

Paperstone is a material that has been used in green countertops for several years now. "We were also curious to explore a new material and developed a cutting board from Paperstone," said Webb.

The Paperstone cutting boards are available directly from Recycline or at Whole Foods Market in two sizes and are both Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and RainForest Alliance certified made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

Simon and Schuster Greenwashing

A big round of applause to publishing giant Simon and Schuster for their new Paper Policy announced last week.

"Simon and Schuster, Inc., and its employees are committed to publishing in a manner that both respects the environment and helps to preserve the world’s great forest regions for the use and pleasure of future generations."

Sounds great right? Well lets look at some of the steps the company is going to take to fulfill this excellent vision of theirs.

1) For books printed and bound in the United States, Simon and Schuster will endeavor to eliminate (what does this mean????) the use of paper that may contain fiber from endangered and old-growth forest areas. Oh wow thats big of you. Most companies stopped that years ago. Thank you so much!!!!

2) Will increase use of recycled fiber from 10% to 25% or "greater aggregate level" by 2012 - wow excellent.

3) This is the best one: "Where economically practical and subject to its availability and Simon and Schuster's product mix " Simon and Schuster will "endeavor to have at least 10% of its paper Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified by 2012" - this is my favorite of all of their steps towards their grand goal. Lets break this down - ok, so if they can fulfill the three conditions they set on this statement then they'll increase their use of FSC paper to 10% - wow. Give me a break guys.

Their list of steps goes on and on you can read it for yourself here.

Just a tip for Simon and Schuster's future "endeavors" in greenness - guys your steps for improving shouldn't read like a legal document. You can't set conditions on your environmental policy otherwise it becomes meaningless. This is a joke. Work out a policy you can live with, without all the conditions.

Target Archer Farms Packaging FSC Certified

Target Stores Archer Farms brand has recently released new paperboard packaging that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).The new packaging was noticed by one of our contributors at a local Target store. The packaging is appearing on select Archer Farms Organic product lines. We found the packaging for the entire line of Archer Farms Organic cookies (Key Lime White Chocolate pictured) carrying both the FSC Mixed Sources logo and the Green-e logo.

According to Target's 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report, "In 2007, select Archer Farms Organic product lines will convert to a paperboard manufacturer that uses 100 percent wind power. Additionally, this paperboard and manufacturer are certified with the Forestry Stewardship Council."

San Francisco-based Michael Osborne Design (MOD) redesigned Archer Farms packaging several years ago. The redesign featured a French country theme and allowed Target to position its Archer Farms brand as their "premium" store brand and introduce a more basic Target store brand of food items.

It is unknown what other products in the Archer Farms Organic line have the new FSC/Green-e paperboard packaging or who is producing the packaging. Target did not respond to multiple inquires by Sustainable is Good.

FSC/Green-e certified packaging on a store brand product is rare and could signify an increased interest from Target in more sustainable packaging. Previously Sustainable is Good reported on Target's efforts to reduce PVC from the packaging of products in its stores.

via Sustainable is Good

JK Rowling wins the 'Order of the Forest'

JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, was recognized in Toronto on Tuesday for demanding that 16 publishers around the world print her books using so-called "eco-friendly" papers.

Vancouver-based Fraser Papers said on Oct. 12 that it has supplied the U.S. publisher of the book, Scholastic, with stock that contained 30% recycled content and with pulp that had been certified as environmentally correct by the Forest Stewardship Council.

A Canadian organization called Markets Initiative presented Ms. Rowling with The Order of the Forest, an award that recognizes her support for environmental causes.

"JK Rowling asked her international publishers to find paper that was free of ancient or endangered forests," explained Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Vancouver-based Markets Initiative.
According to Markets Initiative, the use of eco-friendly papers in Harry Potter books has saved 197,685 trees from the axe.

Wal-Mart Stores to Stop Selling Louisiana Cypress Mulch

Home Depot and Lowes Not Following Wal-Mart's Lead

New Orleans, LA - Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has informed its suppliers that, effective January 1, 2008, the company will no longer buy and sell cypress mulch that is harvested, bagged, or manufactured in the state of Louisiana. The Save Our Cypress Coalition, a group of environmental organizations, has been publicly pressuring the major retailers Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s to stop selling cypress mulch since November 2006.

“It’s a tremendous step that Wal-Mart has recognized that cypress sustainability is a serious concern,” said Mark Ford, Executive Director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “The Save Our Cypress Coalition sincerely thanks Wal-Mart for the action they’ve taken in Louisiana, and we will continue to work to completely end the sale of unsustainable cypress mulch.”

The decision comes on the heels of another recent action by a home retailer that acknowledges the concerns of the Save Our Cypress coalition, while failing to implement practical solutions to address those concerns. Lowe’s has stated it has implemented a moratorium on mulch from cypress harvested south of I-10/I-12 in Louisiana, excluding the Pearl River Basin. But there is no enforceable mechanism for ensuring that the moratorium is actually being upheld by suppliers. Home Depot and Lowe’s have claimed in the past that their suppliers do not source from coastal Louisiana, but the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper has gathered evidence proving this assertion to be false. The evidence is available at www.saveourcypress.org.

Greenpeace Blocks Canadian Pulp Shipment Destined for Stora Enso

Late last month, the Greenpeace Ship Artic Sunrise began a blockade of the freighter Jaeger Arrow in Quebec’s Saguenay River, preventing the export of thousands of tons of pulp to Europe.

The pulp, manufactured by SFK Pulp from destructive logging in Canada’s Boreal Forest, is destined for paper giant Stora Enso in Germany and France.

Canada’s Boreal Forest is one of the most important forests left on the planet. But instead of being protected and managed responsibly, it’s being clearcut and shipped off to Europe and the U.S. to make newspapers, books, and magazines. Quebec exported forest products worth $684 million to Europe and $10 billion to the USA in 2005. In the same year, Ontario exported $8 billion to the USA and $92 million to Europe.

SFK Pulp produces 375,000 tonnes of pulp each year. Much of this is shipped to Europe and the United States to manufacture many different kinds of paper. The bulk of the wood used by SFK to make their pulp is supplied by logging company Abitibi-Consolidated, with additional supply coming from logging company Bowater. These companies were recently exposed as destroying intact forest areas and caribou habitat in Ontario and Quebec in Greenpeace’ Chain of Destruction report.

View full story and see photos on Greenpeace's Kleercut web site.

FSC the Most Effective Certification for Sustainable Forest Management

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification was found to be the most effective sustainable forest management certification according to the most up-to-date and independent cross-analysis of the four forest certification schemes operating in Canada: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certifications (PEFC).

At a recent private industry conference, Markets Initiative launched this first of its kind comparison by ÉEM inc. that independently concludes:

* FSC is the forest certification most likely to result in sustainable forest management, and
* Recycled content is key to the environmental paper solution.

Forest Groups Target Sears Catalogs

ForestEthics, and its network of environmental activists and consumer advocates from across North America, put the Board of Directors of Sears Holding Corporation on notice last week with in-person visits announcing the launch of a new campaign challenging Sears/Lands’ End to clean up its catalog practices.


Sears/Lands’ End introduced the first ever catalog dating back to the company’s beginnings in the 1880s. Today, it is the largest catalog company without responsible paper standards, mailing out more than 425 million catalogs a year that contain almost no recycled content, and using paper sourced from vital ecosystems and endangered forests, including Canada’s Boreal Forest.

Lands' End sends more than 270 million catalogs annually.

“Sears/Lands’ End was once an innovative American icon – the problem is when it comes to the environment, they are stuck in the past instead of leading the way into a greener 21st century,” said Ginger Cassady, Senior Paper Campaigner for ForestEthics, who has been in ongoing meetings and negotiations with the company over its environmental practices. "In an era of increasing competition and growing concern about corporate responsibility, companies must demonstrate their values and protect their brand by implementing better environmental policies.”

More information visit Catalog Cutdown - which is running a feature on the "Destructive Side of Sears"