Report: Are your pencils California-friendly?
Back to School Guide Grades Companies on Sierra Sustainability; Sierra Pacific Industries Linked to Irresponsible Logging of California Forests
SAN FRANCISCO- As back-to-school shopping gets underway, some of the world’s largest pencil manufacturers have been linked to the clearcutting of California’s Sierra Nevada, according to a pencil report card released today by ForestEhics.
“Parents don’t want their children using pencils which degrade California’s landscape, drinking water, or species, and the top companies on our report card show that there’s a better way,” says Josh Buswell-Charkow of ForestEthics. “Those big companies that earned ‘F’s, however, are like the students in the back of the class with pencils in their ears and their heads in the clouds while the rest of the class leaves them behind.”
The report card grades pencil makers on the amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content in their products, whether or not their products are made with lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and whether or not the companies purchase lumber from Sierra Pacific Industries, a company notoriously tone-deaf to concerns about its environmental impacts.
PENCIL GRADES REPORT SUMMARY:
ForestChoice: A
Greenline Paper Company: A
Green Apple: C
Paper Mate: C
Dixon/Ticonderoga: F
USA Gold: F
The report card features a lively back-to-school design to appeal to students and their parents, and includes a short ‘history lesson’ about John Muir and the Sierra, as well as suggestions for buying eco-friendly paper.
Download the full report here: http://www.forestethics.org/downloads/backtoschool.pdf
ForestEthics’ “Save the Sierra” campaign is working to transform the destructive logging practices of California’s largest landowner, Sierra Pacific Industries. Since 1995, SPI has clearcut or converted to plantation over a quarter of a million acres of natural forests, with plans for up to a million acres within the next fifty years. Though the Sierra is home to half of California’s plants and animals and the source of 60% of our drinking water, SPI continues to ruin this natural treasure with its destructive practices.
ForestEthics, a nonprofit with staff in Canada, the United States and Chile, recognizes that individual people can be mobilized to create positive environmental change—and so can corporations. Armed with this unique philosophy, ForestEthics has helped protect more than twelve million acres of Endangered Forests. Visit savethesierra.org, for more information.
