Sustainable publication printing

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w%&." pap", G,"") P,&).&)g G/&d"'&)"- Da'" Ada(- w*,d 9rm © 2009 WorDfirm inc. White PAPer: Green PrintinG GuiDelines 1 E ach year 4 billion trees in 8orests around the world are cut down to make paper, and increasingly these harvested trees are coming 8rom endangered ecosystems, such as the Canadian boreal 8orest and the Indonesian rain 8orest. In addition, the paper industry is now converting natural 8orests to monoculture plantations, or tree 8arms, greatly reducing biodiversity, eliminating wildli 8e habitat, and requiring heavy use o 8 chemical herbicides and pesticides.

The production o 8 paper is both resource intensive and highly polluting. According to the U.S. Department o 8 Energy, the pulp and paper industry is the third-largest industrial consumer o 8 energy and the 8ourth-largest emitter o 8 greenhouse gases among manu 8acturers.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the industry is third among industrial sectors in the release o 8 toxic chemicals to air and 8ourth in the release o 8 toxic chemicals to water. In the United States, environmental regulations are 8airly well en 8orced; such en 8orcement is not guaranteed in other countries, particularly developing countries, where more and more paper is being made.

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not recycled and is instead thrown out, making up a third o 8 the municipal waste stream. As the paper deteriorates in landflls, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat-trapping power o 8 carbon dioxide. According to the U.S. EPA, municipal landflls are the largest source o 8 human-related methane emissions, and a signifcant share o 8 these emissions is generated by the decomposition o 8 paper. Conscientious publishers will want to do all they can to minimize the harm%ul environmental e%%ects o% publication printing. Aside %rom simply printing less 4which will happen as more publications go digital 4publishers should do three things: Maximize recycled content Maximize use o% certifed virgin fbers Choose greener production max&(&z" r" y '"d c*)."). The most signifcant step you can take is choosing paper with recycled content. Maximizing postconsumer recycled fber (%rom paper that has reached its end use) in your paper means %ewer trees cut down %or virgin fber and less pressure %or intense %orest management, including the conversion o% %orests to plantations, and %or logging in endangered ecosystems; less energy consumed to produce the paper, even considering the energy required %or the collection o% recycled paper and its transportation to pulp mills; less pollution, including less carbon dioxide, since the work o% extracting the fber %rom wood and bleaching it has already been done; and less solid waste and thus less methane. One hundred percent recycled is the ideal, o% course, but it may not be possible to achieve this while also meeting budget and print-quality objectives. The consensus standard currently emerging in the publishing industry is based on the U.S. EPA 9s requirement %or %ederal agencies: For uncoated paper: minimum o% 30 percent postconsumer recycled content For coated paper: minimum o% 10 percent postconsumer recycled content Da'" Ada(- is president of Word 9rm Inc. ( word 9rm.co ( ), w%& % *##",- p/b'& a.&*) p,*d/ .&*) -",v& "-, &) '/d&)g *py"d&.&)g a)d p,**#,"ad&)g. w%&." pap", w*,d 9rm © 2009 WorDfirm inc. White PAPer: Green PrintinG GuiDelines 2 Still, there are publishers keeping to the highest standard and success cully using that cact in their marketing: In 2003 Raincoast Books published the Canadian edition o c Harry Potter and the Order o 2 the Phoenix on 100 percent postconsumer recycled paper. Currently, though, recycled fber makes up only 6 percent o c printing and writing papers, so there is considerable room cor growth. As more publishers demand recycled content crom their paper suppliers, the result will be a more cunctional recycling in crastructure, more and better paper choices, and lower paper costs. Maximize Use of Certi 0ed Virgin Fibers So, how can you be sure that the nonrecycled virgin fbers in your paper come crom corests that are not endangered and that are sustainably managed? The paper you buy should carry the label o c a certifcation program, pre cerably the Forest Stewardship Council. Forest certifcation verifes, usually through third- party auditors, that corests are being managed according to a set o c standards cor sustainability. These are the main corest certifcation programs: The Forest Stewardship Council ( 2scus.org) : A nonproft organization certi cying corests internationally, FSC was created in the early 1990s by environmental groups concerned about de corestation and unsustainable logging and developed with input crom both industry and nonindustry stakeholders. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (sfprogram. org) : Certi cying corests in the United States and Canada, SFI was created by the American Forest and Paper Association cor its members but is now a separate nonproft organization with more independence crom the timber and paper industry. The Canadian Standards Association corest certifcation program (csa.ca) : CSA does not itsel% set %orest per%ormance standards but allows them to be defned in local %orest management plans, which may or may not go beyond minimal Canadian and provincial legislative requirements. The Programme cor the Endorsement o c Forest Certifcation schemes (pe cc.org) : PEFC simply endorses national and regional %orest certifcation schemes 4such as SFI and CSA 4so weaknesses in those programs also apply to PEFC. When you buy paper labeled by any o% these programs, you can be assured that the trees were harvested legally and that the %orests were managed according to basic sustainability standards. However, only FSC is endorsed as the best-practice standard in %orest management by the major environmental groups, including Greenpeace, the Natural Resources De%ense Council, the National Wildli%e Federation, the Sierra Club, and World Wildli%e Fund. These are the main reasons why: FSC provides adequate protection o% endangered and high-conservation-value %orests. FSC maintains biodiversity and landscape integrity according to the highest standards. FSC does not allow conversion o% natural %orests to plantations. FSC has stricter limits on clear-cut sizes and chemical use. FSC has a transparent certifcation process, through which fndings and corrective action requests are made public, and gives stakeholders opportunities to challenge %orest management. FSC calls %or consensus solutions when logging a%%ects indigenous communities. Because paper will be made with fbers %rom various %orests, FSC also calls %or chain-o c-custody certifcation, which verifes that paper mills, w%&." pap", w*,d 9rm © 2009 WorDfirm inc. White PAPer: Green PrintinG GuiDelines 3 paper manu%acturers and printers and speccing print jobs to minimize environmental issues. Some paper manu%acturers do more to protect the environment, using the most advanced technologies, the most e%fcient mill operations, and the most e%%ective environmental management systems. There is no comprehensive ratings program %or the paper industry, so you 9ll need to do some research be%ore choosing a paper company and a paper product. These sites will help: Conservatree (conservatree.org) : Conservatree 9s Web site o%%ers a comprehensive listing o% environmental papers o% all grades 4%rom tissue to newsprint to printing and writing 4with data %or each brand on recycled content, FSC and other certifcation labeling, and bleaching process used. World Wildli ce Fund 9s Paper Toolbox (panda.org/ paper/toolbox) : WWF 9s Paper Toolbox site o%%ers The WWF Guide to Buying Paper and a Paper Scorecard that you can submit to paper companies. The site also lists European paper companies that have completed the Scorecard and have had their responses verifed by a third-party auditor. To choose a responsible printer, you can go to the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership 9s sgppartnership.org site, but the organization is relatively new and has certifed only a small number o% printers. You 9ll likely need to ask printers directly about their recycling, pollution-control, and energy- and resource-conservation e%%orts. Most will have a prepared data sheet ready %or this request. Among the items on that sheet should be a description o% an environmental (or sustainability) management system, such as one meeting the requirements o% ISO 14001. Your printing-job specs will include recycled- content and FSC requirements, but these specs will also help: Bleaching : The paper should come %rom pulp whose bleaching was pre%erably either totally chlorine cree (i% virgin fber) or processed chlorine cree (i% recycled fber), but it should at distributors, and others handling fbers along their course keep track o 8 those fbers 4thus ensuring that the fnal products can confdently receive an FSC label. For paper, FSC has three on-product labels: FSC 100% : All fbers come 8rom FSC-certifed 8orests. FSC Mixed Sources : Fibers come 8rom FSC- certifed 8orests, recycled paper, or company- controlled sources, which are 8orests where harvesting is legal, where high conservation values are not threatened, where civil and traditional rights are protected, where genetically modifed trees are not grown, and where there will be no conversion to plantation or to non 8orest use. The label may indicate the percentage o 8 postconsumer recycled fber. FSC Recycled : All fbers come 8rom postconsumer recycled paper. With this label, you can be assured o 8 recycled content. I 8 you wish to print an FSC label on your publication or print any claim regarding the publication 9s FSC content, the paper you use must carry an FSC label and the printer must be FSC certifed. That printer will provide you with the correct label or with proper wording 8or a claim regarding FSC content. You will be showing responsibility by using paper with any o 8 these labels, but as with choosing recycled paper, it may not always be possible to choose FSC-labeled paper. You cannot choose paper with a percentage o 8 FSC-certifed fbers, as you can with recycled fbers, so you need to aim 8or a percentage o 8 all paper purchased. The Green Press Initiative recommends an annual aggregate average o 8 at least 20 percent FSC-labeled paper. Choose Greener Production Besides maximizing recycled- and certifed-fber content, you can also make sure that you support paper manu 8acturing and publication printing processes that are as green as possible. Suggested steps include choosing environmentally responsible w%&." pap", w*,d 9rm © 2009 WorDfirm inc. White PAPer: Green PrintinG GuiDelines 4 Environmental De cense Paper Calculator (papercalculator.org) : This Web-based calculator shows the environmental impacts o% di%%erent papers across their li%e cycles, allowing variables o% paper grade, quantity per year, and recycled content. The State o c the Paper Industry: Monitoring the Indicators o c Environmental Per cormance by the Steering Committee o% the Environmental Paper Network (available at environmentalpaper.org ): This comprehensive report addresses fber sourcing, recycling, consumption, paper production, and the paper industry 9s impact on communities and the climate crisis. Handbook on Book Paper and the Environment by the Association o% American Publishers (available at publishers.org ): This guide assists publishers in navigating the con%using and o%ten arcane issues relating to the development o% environmental sustainability practices within the book publishing industry. least be elemental chlorine free (because dioxin is a byproduct, elemental chlorine bleaching has been phased out in the United States, but it still makes up 20 percent o d kra dt pulp bleaching worldwide). Inks : Vegetable-based inks contain dewer toxic compounds than do petroleum-based inks. Coatings : The dewer coatings, laminates, and adhesives, the easier the recycling o d the publication. Trim sizes : Trim sizes closer to standard paper sizes mean less trim waste. Basis weights : Lower basis weights mean dewer fbers used in making the paper. Higher-bulk papers can maintain thickness. Print quantities : Smaller printings will avoid the production o d extra copies that remain unsold and must be disposed o d. Your specs communicate your immediate goals to your printer and ultimately paper manu dacturers, but you should also periodically meet with your vendors to lay out duture goals. As suppliers recognize the demand dor higher recycled content, FSC-labeled paper, and cleaner paper manu dacturing and publication printing, the industry will respond. More Information Green Press Initiative (greenpressinitiative.org) : GPI helps publishers and other stakeholders in the book and newspaper industries minimize social and environmental impacts. The Web site o d ders tools and resources dor publishers, including supplier listings, toolkits, and sample environmental policies. Green America Better Paper Project (magazinepaper.org) : This project helps magazine publishers implement environmental stewardship policies and purchasing practices 4and promotes those that do. The Web site o d ders discussion dorums, webinars, reports, and other resources. Sign up for future Word 9rm white papers on pub- '& a.&*) p,*d/ .&*): word 9rm.com/whitepaper - .

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