Sunil Angrish
Senior Reporter
This issue of Et Cetera is all about the environment. Because the environment is the issue. As attention continues to mount on the green revolution, Et Cetera examines what is being done at all levels by concerned citizens, governments and business.
Environmentalists are calling for a change within the print industry, and newspapers are no exception. Coalitions of environmentalists working along with the lumber industry and governments are trying to take the impact off threatened forests across the globe.
“It’s all about the environment,” said David Logan, General Manager for NOW Magazine. In 2007, NOW announced a series of environmental policies for their newsprint, including the use of 100 per cent post-consumer recycled paper and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper. “We’re in an industry that knocks down more trees than anyone else,” he said.
The Et Cetera does not use FSC paper, said Les Weller of Weller Printing, which prints the newspaper. Et Cetera is printed with organic vegetable inks, and the paper comes from leftover woodchips and pulp from processed trees to produce the 5000 a-week print run, he explained. “I guess you could call it 100 per cent pre-consumer recycled paper,” he said. Formerly, he used post-consumer recycled newsprint, but it wasn’t sufficient at the time, he said. “The paper was darker, and our customers started to notice.”
FSC is an international certification and labeling system for forest products. The products come from managed forests and verified recycled sources. NOW was told of the environmentally conscious products by the non-profit group Markets Initiative, an organization dedicated to raising awareness and promotion of recycled and FSC products.
According to Weller, the quality of the post-consumer recycled paper has improved in recent years, and customers are curious. Several have inquired recently about FSC paper. Weller said if a customer wanted the paper he could obtain it for them in approximately a week.
Humber is looking into using FSC products, said Carol Anderson, director of facilities management. “We’re switching envelopes right now,” she said. Humber has also looked into using more FSC paper, but tests have shown the paper has problems with some printers and photocopiers on campus, she said. “The paper gets jammed often for some reason, but we’re looking into it.”
Making the move to more environmentally sustainable paper is important, said Kim Fry, a Greenpeace Canada energy campaigner. In Ontario, only 7 per cent of large intact forests are fully protected from logging, she said. “There is no need to continue logging as we do. The demand of recycled fibre has not exceeded supply.”
According to Fry, nearly 1.1 million metric tones of newsprint were used in Canada in 2004, equivalent to over 12 million trees.
But companies tend to direct fibres to their more premium papers, and that is not newsprint, said Maia Becker, Manager of Communications & Client Services for FSC Canada. “Once there is enough in the market and enough demand then some can be directed to newsprint.”
That is the catch, Logan said. “There is a finite amount of recycled newsprint out there,” he said.
In early 2005, only three paper products in total were FSC certified; now there are nearly 200, said Becker.
“There’s enough competition between companies that the price has dropped significantly,” she said. As demand has increased, so has the supply, which contributes to a lower cost, she explained.
If several customers were willing to make the switch then the cost difference will be nominal, Weller said. “It is doable at any time,” he said. “It shouldn’t cost any more for having a conscience.”