The Paper Planet

The Paper Planet Has Moved to a New Home

2011-08-25T13:02:00.002-04:00

After a good, long run publishing on this platform, the Paper Planet, is moving to a new web address at the new website of the Environmental Paper Network. You can read and follow the blog now at community.environmentalpaper.org/blog. This site at http://ThePaperPlanet.blogspot.com will remain public as an archive of previous articles. Please join us and register on the new website

Association of Alternative Newsmedia Endorses Environmental Vision at Annual Meeting

2011-08-17T13:40:00.001-04:00

Two organizations that are leaders in the Environmental Paper Network have been in New Orleans this week for the annual convention of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (formerly the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies). They have reported back, with some good news: The Association, representing 129 alternative weekly news organizations, voted unanimously to

5 Groups File Lawsuit Challenging EPA's Free Pass on Climate Pollution from Biomass Energy

2011-08-17T09:13:00.003-04:00

Good decisions require good information. Stakeholders in the paper industry's transformation towards greater environmental responsibility need good information about the climate pollution from harvesting, land-use change, and smokestack emissions of using and burning virgin tree fiber to make paper. That's why paper industry transformation advocates are keenly interested in the United States

Environmental Paper Network Applauds Senate Resolution 251 For Improved Recycling

2011-08-09T09:10:00.000-04:00

Senate Resolution 251 was introduced on August 2nd by co-chairs of the Recycling Caucus, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R–ME). The intent behind the non-binding resolution was to showcase the high level benefits that recycling provides the US economy, jobs, and the environment. At the same time, the bill calls for needed improvement to the current collection, processing,

Congressional Briefing Shows Connection Between Recycling and Jobs

2011-08-05T16:36:00.008-04:00

Senator Carper of DelawareCo-Chair of the Senate Recycling CaucusOn Thursday, July 28th, the RePaper Project attended a Congressional Briefing in Washington DC about the critical connection between recycling and building a green economy. The briefing was co-hosted by Senator Carper (D-DE) and Senator Snowe (R-ME), co-chairs of the Senate Recycling Caucus. The intent was to increase education

Communities Tackling Unwanted Phone Books, Junk Mail

2011-08-02T12:04:00.001-04:00

The Town of Brookline and the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts have joined a national waste reduction movement allowing residents to opt out of receiving unwanted mail and phone books via their municipal websites. Owing to a collaboration between the Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), which initiated the project, and Catalog Choice, which developed and operates the

Spitballs And Recycled Paper

2011-07-21T12:49:00.003-04:00

The Paper Planet welcomes a guest column by Frank Locantore of the Green America Better Paper Project, part of a series highlighting the work of members of the Environmental Paper Network.Spitballs And Recycled Paper: Why every seventh grader knows recycled paper is better for the environmentIf you weren’t the seventh grader who chewed up paper and got it all pulpy with your saliva before doing

Are you STILL getting mixed messages about recycled paper?

2011-07-20T18:19:00.004-04:00

In a recent blog post, Jeff Mendelsohn of New Leaf Paper provides a deeper look at the often confusing carbon footprinting of recycled versus virgin paper and explains what's necessary for collaboration toward true sustainability. ------------------------Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the greenest paper company of all? Virgin paper manufacturers confuse paper buyers with misleading

Dogwood Alliance: EPA’s Decision Not to Regulate Biomass Carbon Emissions is a Big Mistake

2011-07-19T14:51:00.000-04:00

Today, Dogwood Alliance, an organization focused on protecting Southern forests, called on utility companies, investors, and federal, state, and local governments to halt the further expansion of large-scale bioenergy projects, including burning whole trees in existing coal-fired power plants while the EPA studies the environmental impacts. This comes in response to the agency’s recently

The 2011 State of the Paper Industry Report: Steps Toward an Environmental Vision

2011-07-14T17:42:00.000-04:00

The Environmental Paper Network released a comprehensive sustainability report today tracking progress on key pulp and paper industry indicators over the previous decade. The report, titled The State of the Paper Industry 2011: Steps Toward an Environmental Vision, provides data and analysis about fiber sourcing, recycling, consumption, paper production, and the paper industry's impact

Obama's EPA Kicks Biomass Can Down the Road

2011-07-08T10:27:00.000-04:00

As a conservationist and public health advocate, one of the things I despised most about the George W. Bush Administration's strategy while in office was the release of key, anti-environmental regulations on Friday afternoons, just before a long holiday weekend. And certainly, with the new Administration, that would "change," right? Right? Turns out the answer is "No." On Friday, July 1st,

Sprint Tops Green Grades from ForestEthics, Others Lag

2011-07-07T10:15:00.000-04:00

Today ForestEthics released its 2011 Green Grades Report Card, ranking a dozen U.S. Fortune 500 companies that impact forests through heavy paper use. Now in its 5th year, Green Grades has established itself as a key information source for consumers and companies seeking to match environmental values with paper purchasing and business decisions. Download the report card here >> This year

Introducing the Ancient Forest Friendly Awards

2011-07-07T08:34:00.000-04:00

Environmental Paper Network member, Canopy, has announced a prestigious new environmental award for company's which are demonstrating leadership in progressive paper procurement. In a time when stamps of approval are awarded for meager efforts and unsubstantiated environmental gain, an Ancient Forest Friendly™ award from Canopy is a true mark of integrity and sets the gold standard for

Metro Montreal first to guarantee all FSC certified newsprint

2011-06-27T13:05:00.001-04:00

Today, Metro Montreal, the most-read newspaper on the island of Montreal, begins printing exclusively on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper as part of a new environmental policy launched in collaboration with North American environmental organization, Canopy. The groundbreaking policy developed with Canopy establishes Metro Montreal as an environmental leader among

UPDATE: RISI Removes Article(s) on Paper Scorecards for a 2nd Time

2011-06-22T14:02:00.002-04:00

The Paper Planet wishes to apologize that the link that was published yesterday to an updated, corrected, and short version of the two pieces by contributor Phil Riebel, titled, "Five Ways to Check Your Paper," is no longer active. The new article was removed again overnight from RISI's website, for reasons which are not yet clear. The long version of the article, "Review of Paper

RISI Corrects Inaccuracies About The Paper Calculator

2011-06-21T12:35:00.002-04:00

Last week, RISI.com published an article evaluating five paper scorecards. Unfortunately, the article contained factually incorrect information about the Paper Calculator and its life cycle model. The Environmental Paper Network (EPN) brought this to the attention of the editors at RISI who promptly removed the article from their website temporarily.We would like to share with you that

New Leaf and Office Depot Talk Recycled Paper and Radical Transparency

2011-06-02T14:26:00.000-04:00

At the Greenbiz.com, State of Green Business Forum, 2011, New Leaf Paper and Office Depot presented their "One Great Idea" in which they used cutting-edge web technology to tell the story of 100% recycled copy paper and the surprising make-up of its carbon footprint. Their approach exemplifies a new direction in customer engagement around sustainability and provides a visually powerful

Campus Organizations Launch Campaign to Recover 75% of Paper Waste for Recycling by 2015

2011-05-24T13:35:00.002-04:00