I am ticked off at my bank, utilities and telecom providers for saying “go green – go paperless.”
I’ve had it with my bank and all the other companies that are bashing paper products to promote electronic billing, statements and other e-services. Yes…I’ve finally lost it.
I have decided to be diplomatic and not name you…but we all know who you are.
To my bank and other providers out there who are doing this:
You are damaging my livelihood and you are misleading people with greenwashing so that you can cut costs. Please be honest.
I am your customer and I have spent the last 25 years of my life working in the forest and paper industry. This industry has allowed me to lead a good life, raise a great family together with my wife, and provide a good education for my children.
I buy your products and services: banking services, cell phones, TV services, electric and water services. I spend my money to make you more profitable – money that comes from the pulp and paper industry.
Not only are the green claims making me upset, it makes many of your other customers upset as well. In fact, millions of them.
It may come as a surprise to you but 8.4 million Americans make a living in the print, paper and mail value chain that generates 1.3 trillion in revenues (EMA 2012 Job Study). I bet you’re getting a lot of this money in your coffers.
About 10 million Americans own private forestland (US Forest Service) and many of them rely on the income from their properties to make a living (ex: lumber for construction and pulp used for papermaking – yes PAPER).
I am one of those forest owners. My family owns 200 acres of woodlands and we manage it responsibly for economic and recreational benefits as well as biodiversity.
How do you think I and the millions of other family forest owners feel about your “save a tree” claims? I think they are very misleading because I believe we are the ones saving forests for the long-term by managing them responsibly and making sure our society can benefit from forest products (like paper) that are highly renewable, highly recyclable and store carbon for their useful life. These inherent environmental features make paper quite a sustainable product compared to all the other things that surround us, including electronics.
Most of us are well aware of the massive infrastructure and environmental impacts of electronic media that you forget to mention in your green claims.
All products and services have pros and cons. To bash one product in favor of another is an easy game to play when you have no verifiable facts or evidence that consider all the economic, social and environmental benefits of our forest resource and products like paper. I believe your green claims fall short of many rules and guidelines for environmental marketing.
Paper and electronic can happily co-exist and I need both…so do most other people I know. I use e-billing and on-line banking regularly, but I need a paper copy to remind me to pay the bills. I also keep the paper copy, or print the e-statements for accounting and record-keeping. It’s more secure and won’t get lost.
All my paper gets printed on both sides and gets recycled. I also buy paper that has been made with fiber from forests certified to the Forest Stewardship Council or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
Paper is far from being a “bad” product as your marketing suggests. I believe that the majority of people see paper as a sustainable way to communicate as long as it is produced and used responsibly, including recycling it.
It’s time to gather your marketing team in a room and tell them to stop greenwashing the millions of people who earn a living from the print, paper, mail and forestry value chain. Please focus your message on the true benefits of e-media: speed, convenience and maybe a few others.
Remember…we are your customers and most of us care about the environment just as much as you do.
Now it’s time for me to shut down my computer and cell phone for the day and go for a walk in the forest. Happy Earth Day!
Phil Riebel
Family Forest Owner and Proud Paper Supporter
Bravo!
Well done…
I will post a quote or two with links back…
Making the economic agreement is nice and true, but not relevant to the environment. Demand for pulp leaves our forest healthy and the demand for locally, sustainable fiber keeps our land owners interested in keeping their land as forest. 70% of our forest is in private hands. These private land owners can do one of three things with their land. Only three. They can keep it as forest, make it into some kind of Agricultural or grazing land or develop it. Those are their only options. We want to encourage them to keep their land as not just forest, but multicultural forest and the best way to do so is to buy their renewable and sustainable wood products. If we stopped buying them these private land owners would look for other revenue sources for their land. Yes, paper keeps American’s employed with good jobs, but it also keeps the demand for wood products high convincing our capitalist land owners to keep their land as sustainable growing forest.
Andy,
Thanks for adding these details…we are totally on the same page. I think you also show how the economics and the environmental points (the future of our forests) are critically linked.
@Andy – The reality is that too much forest is in private hands and not in it’s natural state.
I think you are confused. Private owned does not mean not in natural state. I’m not referring to Monocultural forest, as they are just tree farms. I’m talking about peopled with huge swaths of forest land and Companies like Lyme Timber. They own almost 500,000 acres and it is real multicultural forest. They just prune the forest as they need timber, no more then 15% in 20 years.- Just cause it is in private hands does not mean it is not in the natural state.
Andy
Our position a Two Sides is that print, paper and electronic media all have pros and cons, as all products do. We believe they should co-exist and that they have many synergies…they complement each other in mny ways. Paper has several inherent sustainable features as you point out, but it also has impacts over the life cycle. The best way to reduce those impacts is to measure them as most companies do and try to minimize them. Certified wood fiber, recycled fiber and buying locally are parts of the life cycle but they don’t always drive the environmental footprint of paper. The environmental perfomance of pulp and paper mills is a big factor to consider as well.
Your argument is akin to protecting seal clubbing or whaling or over fishing just because it provides jobs for people. It does not matter if it is 1 person or 8.4 million people, who have jobs because of your industry – if the planet dies we die with it. The plantations (many former thriving natural habitats) may be renewable for the most part but the paper production processes use chemicals, precious water and produce many toxic by products. As you probably know there are ways to make the whole production process more environmentally friendly but that would drive the cost of paper too high. So for the most part all around the world, the cheap and nasty methods are still in use. Only a few companies produce brands such as “triple-green” but they need to sell those at a premium or cross subsidise them.
Electronic document delivery channels are not completely green but comparatively when you take the full life cycle of each, it is way more eco friendly. For more see http://www.striata.com/resources/blog/ebilling-greenwashing-is-hogwash.html
Hi Alan,
I disagree with your analogy and especially that electronics is way more eco-friendly. We stand a better chance of long term sustainability if the planet and humans use more renewable and recyclable products and if more people understand the full benefits of well managed forests. We are focused on the US market and practices and I agree that there are still questionable and unfortunate practices in other parts of the world…that goes for all products.
I encourage you to learn more about our industry and the life cycle of our produts, and I invite you to read the other comments submitted. I believe that the industry in North America has come a long way in improving its environmental performance.
I think both paper and e-media should co-exist and have synergies. All products need to be produced and used responsibly. The main issue is that I feel people don’t really understand the life cycle and benefits of forest products like paper.
I will address your last point first. In our company we don’t push the message of electronic delivery over paper delivery. Rather we push that in order to be recipient focused, we will deliver in the channel that is most convenient for the recipient. As such we are an hybrid organisation that produces both electronic and paper output. The reality is that print and post is more expensive and not as green. While electronic products are often difficult or impossible to recycle, a single CPU in our server farm produces millions up millions of electronic documents at a fraction of the cost and goes on doing so for many years. This lower cost is due to less energy required per document in comparison to physical production methods. It must also be realised that paper is ultimately printed on by computers and printers. So the full life-cycle should be taken into account.
However we do recognise that we are not totally carbon neutral and as such support organisations such as Food & Trees for Africa.
I also had 2 public debates with execs from a large paper and pulp producer in South Africa about 2 years ago. They produced some good stats and documents that made a good case. The reality it is for a smaller part of their business and not representative of the world wide industry. Imports of paper from China and other countries are still being used for one reason – cost. These methods for the cheaper paper are not following eco friendly practices for the most part.
you really want to get into a conversation on which is greener the electronic media of paper?
natural resources
paper is renewable
electronic cause death to the land that is mined and death the to people near by
production
water- paper made in america is filtered to be cleaner then when it starts
Electronic, water is polluted with mercury, lead and dioxins
energy use
over 50% of paper plants in american use renewable energy
Electronic 10%
and the big one recyclebilty
Paper- is recyclable and biodegradable 58% of paper is recycled
electronic under 10% and 70% of all toxic waste and heavy metalsCadmium, nickel, mercury, lead, dioxin—products known to poison, to damage the nervous system, and to cause cancer.
for more information check out
http://www.earthenterprise.com/environmentalwhitepapers/digitalvsprinting.html
Reblogged this on MapPrinter and commented:
Phil Riebel’s Earth Day Request: Cut the Anti-paper Greenwashing!
Because “save a tree” requests are misleading. All products and services have pros and cons. Paper and electronics can co-exist, and in some cases, like the the mapping industry, when used together, increase function and value.
@hollybud I agree they can and do live together. However do not forget that paper is still printed on by computers and printers. So the equation is not paper vs. electronic but rather paper+electronic vs. electronic.
[…] My Earth Day Request: Cut the Anti-paper Greenwashing! […]
I have worked in printing all my life here is what I use at the end of my emails
Notice: It is OK to print this e-mail. Paper is a biodegradable, renewable, recyclable, sustainable product made from trees. Growing & harvesting trees provides jobs for millions of men and women, & working forest’s are good for the environment, providing clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat and carbon storage. Please recycle your paper.
Excellent post, and something as a printing company i completely agree with!
Will reference back and share this post across my own networks now 🙂
Phil is right. Convenience, not environmental claims, are probably the biggest motivator for people to go digital. He’s also right that even if many do, we will continue to use large amounts of paper and the U.S. and Canada we will need people with skills in forestry, print, recycling and throughout the supply chain.
When the green team at your company does gather in a room to recognize that some people can’t or don’t wish to go digital, it’s also a great opportunity to discuss how to distinguish between controversial paper fiber and paper from ethical sources that respect communities, are low-carbon and high conservation value forest areas. Its important because not ALL paper is sourced responsibly. Get advice on this from diverse and trusted sources.
@Noel I agree companies are still driven by cost savings and the drive profit increase profits – it is just business after all. The fact that it is green just makes it easier for them to convert from paper. Green, cost savings and profit are still good reasons.
@David I agree completely with your statement. Also in response to…
“When the green team at your company does gather in a room to recognize that some people can’t or don’t wish to go digital,”
We already are a hybrid company producing both paper and electronic output for one reason only – some people prefer paper.
and …
“Its important because not ALL paper is sourced responsibly. Get advice on this from diverse and trusted sources.”
I agree – This point we make that the cheaper paper is usually not sourced responsibly and as it has been noted organisation tend to go for the cheaper options to maximise profits.
Great job, Phil!
Great article! Our day care starting putting a note in our monthly printed newsletters that said, “Save a tree, sign up for our enewsletter.” I quickly bought them 3 reams of brightly colored FSC certified paper. I also printed out some facts from the Two Sides open letter to Google and took it all in to the office. I explained why what they was saying wasn’t true and left my donation. They were very sweet about it and thankful for the paper. The next month the little blurb was gone.
If we work hard to educate those who don’t know, we can really make a difference. Thanks for provide great facts that can easily be shared.
@Brooke – Did they then proceed to print on that paper with a computer and printer anyway? The equation is thus paper+consumables+electronic vs. electronic only.
Dear Brooke,
if you want to buy green paper do not look for the FSC or Recycled label. Find paper that is locally harvested and locally manufactured. Become a Localvore not just your your food but with the products you buy. Support your local sustainable forest.
Of course the REAL reason companies want to stop mailing statements has little to do with paper. It’s to cut postage costs and increase profits. They just use the “green” pitch because it sounds good.
Thanks, great article. Yes, we pay the bank electronically but insist on a paper printed statement. All they want is to save themselves even more money.
We need those printed statements for our tax-returns. Why should I use my own paper and ink?
@Werner – If you have a need for printed statements then you have the right to have them printed. If they want you to print them they should offer you a discount on your bank charges. Locally here in South Africa the tax return process is 100% electronic. No need to supply printed documents of any kind.
And for every tree taken, the forestry products industry generally plants 5 new ones, a sustainability practice that has been going on for well over 100 years, The river water used to make paper is cleansed and returned in better condition!
Gotta love the marketing opportunists!
Thanks for bringing this up. When firms says “Go Paperless” what they’re really saying is “Help us cut down our costs of supporting you as a customer”.
This!
I did some rough math and figured out that our local power utility is saving, conservatively, about 12 million dollars a year by using e-bills for 30% of their customers. That 12 million goes into the stock-holders pockets and I get nothing so what incentive do I have to go paperless?
Excellent response to those who have little understanding of how we all live in this world. As Chairman of The Packaging Society in the UK I thoroughly endorse your comments and hope your message is spread far and wide. Sadly our modern electronics world is spattered with equipment crashes and breakdowns and to my way of thinking it will only get worse. Then surprise surprise we will have to start writing to each other on PAPER. Keep up the good work Keith Barnes
This is exactly what I have in my mind!!! Thanks
Good job!