Paper & Environmental Certifications
Environmental Stewardship, Paper & Design
Neenah Environment paper has been my go-to primary paper recommendation to clients for over a decade. The papers available in this line hold ink beautifully (color pops) and all of these papers have Post-Consumer Fiber content of at least 30%. Within this Environment line of papers, they also offer 100% Post-Consumer Fiber in their PC 100 White and PC 100 Natural. Recycled paper can have as little as 10% Post-Consumer Fiber, so 30% is actually quite significant.
Neenah Environment Certifications
All Neenah papers in then Environment line hold certifications for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (see below for FSC vs. SFI), Green-e (clean energy and carbon offset), and Green Seal (environmental impact reduction). Fifteen of Neenah papers hold the Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) certification, including the above mentioned PC 100 White and Natural, which are the only two PCF options in the Environment line.
Printers Drive Paper Selection, Not People
Local digital and offset printers offer select brands, colors, and weights of paper. When a printer does not have your preferred paper brand on hand, you can ask to have it ordered. If the printer is willing (and/or able), it’s on the customer to buy their own large reams which is typically hundreds of dollars. If the printer makes a mistake with the print run, that paper cost is likely going to be on the customer, not the printer. So it’s best to find printers who offer the kind of paper you like. Printers often have an affordable “house paper” that they offer as their high-volume paper of choice. If you’re lucky, their house paper supports improvements toward environmental stewardship, and the print team will help you make better design decisions on product sizing to reduce paper waste and cost.
My preferred local printer keeps a select set of colors and weights of Neenah Environment in house, so it’s the paper and printer I recommend to my clients every time when they are not ordering from gang-run printer like Moo or VistaPrint (meaning that several customers share the same glass plate, which keeps costs low, but with no ability to manage on-press color adjustment.)
Honorable Mentions
Paper is not a clean industry, so when I began thinking about paper and environmental stewardship, I ditched my extensive library of paper sample books, only keeping books from companies that were actively taking steps forward in industry practices.
Domtar Cougar has been another standard paper choice for me when printers could not source Neenah. Another beautiful paper, but the recycled content is only 10%. Higher recycled content would be optimal, but Cougar does carry certifications for FCS and the Rain Forest Alliance. Also, nearly half a million dollars per year is contributed to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from the sale of their FSC-certified EarthChoice products.
I’ve always been intrigued with French Paper, but don’t have much experience with their product other than their super cool sample packs and swatch books. They installed fully renewable hydroelectric generators in 1922. As pioneers in recycled paper, they were the first paper company to intentionally keep the speckled flecks in the recycled paper, and this became their trademark paper look. I have my eye out for opportunities to use this paper with clients, but have yet to find a local printer that warehouses this particular paper.
Recycled Paper Greenwashing Tip
Paper that displays the recycled logo may not have any recycled content, but is actually an indicator that the paper can be recycled.
FSC Vs. SFI
Over 10 years ago, I began researching paper and environmental sustainability, and like everything we do on the planet, it’s still far from perfect. Still, when making paper recommendations, it’s important to me that paper companies are taking steps toward better outcomes.
All those years ago, after researching the standards for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) I leaned toward products with FSC certs, because their certification requirements included a 10% reforestation effort. Meaning, if 50% of forest was cleared, 60% needed to be planted to obtain certification. In 2020, certification processes are much more complicated and not as transparent, so I can’t really claim that I understand the scope, or even key stats, for the certification processes for SFI is or FSC.
Watching How Industries Respond to Public Pressure
Over the years, I’ve come to trust FSC in the same way that I trust my food coop, while I’ve always been wary of SFI. Even Fortune 500 companies have started ditching SFI for FSC around 2011. In my recent, continued research, I found an article that highlights SFI criticism for greenwashing, and this organization which claims to expose SFI corruption. To be fair, I also found criticism directed toward FSC. However, the article that put the whole debate to bed for me was the one that stated FSC was founded by environmentalists in 1933, while SFI was founded by the North American forest products industry one year later. This FastCompany story goes so far as to say that SFI very well might be a timber industry-sponsored scam. Like other industries that haven’t been stewards of ethical practice, there is always a chance that public pressure and bad press will encourage internal clean up. But for now, I’m in the FSC camp.
