We all want to do our part for the environment. We can control how our individual companies interact with the environment and manage our own impact as best we can. However, it can be difficult to discern which vendors, suppliers, or printer providers are also acting responsibly and with the best interests of our planet in mind. One way to tell if a printer is eco-friendly is to find out if they are Forest Certified.
Forest certification, according to the State of Minnesota DNR:
“Forest certification is a voluntary third-party process that identifies and recognizes well-managed forest land. It takes into consideration the ecological, economic, and social components of forests and surrounding communities.
Through chain-of-custody certification, fiber from certified forestland can move through production streams, thus enabling the end product to receive a certified logo informing customers that the product came from a certified, well-managed forest and was manufactured responsibly.”
When a product is endorsed by a forest certification system it means it has been sourced entirely by those that responsibly manage forests. From start to finish each element of a product has been produced with environmentally responsible processes.
One of the most internationally recognized forest certification systems is the FSC®.
FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council®. The FSC is an independent non-profit organization committed to the responsible management of forests for future generations. They are considered the ‘gold standard’ in forest certification. With an international office in Germany and a national office in Minneapolis, they ensure forests are responsibly managed. There are currently over 380 million acres of forest certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). They are also the only forest certification system supported by World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club,Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council and National Wildlife Federation.
With the average american using six-trees worth of paper a year it is important that more printers become FSC or forest certified. Forests cover 30% of our planet and 70% of all terrestrial animals and plants call those forests home. It is important to protect what we have and do what is right for the good of the planet.
Wallace Carlson is proudly FSC certified and happy to answer any questions you might have about forest certification or what it takes to be an environmentally conscious printer. We take our green initiative seriously and believe we all need to do our part when it comes to the environment.