What started last year as a simple ‘green initiative’ in Graphic Services has grown to include the entire campus.
Graphic Services Assistant Director Bruce Maslen and graphic designer Kelly Hunt sit atop skids of FSC-certified paper, now used across campus. The paper is obtained from responsibly managed forests that meet higher environmental and social standards.
In switching to FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) papers last May, graphic designer Kelly Hunt saw an opportunity to make a definitive environmental statement.
“Unfortunately, we are still a paper society, in particular a university campus, and I felt we needed to be making a sustainability choice along with an environmental one,” says Hunt.
Spurred by consumer demand, the pulp and paper industry is offering more environmentally friendly, or ‘green’, paper options.
FSC-certified papers contain wood fibre from well-managed forests, post-consumer recycled content and other controlled forest friendly sources. The approach requires and documents protection of wildlife habitat and endangered species, ensuring clean water by respecting rivers and waterways. Genetically modified trees are not permitted, neither is conversion of growing areas into plantations.
“Right from the seedling to maturity to the paper supplier, you know the natural forest processes were respected,” says Bruce Maslen, Assistant Director at Graphic Services. “It’s controlled right from the start, with sustainability at the forefront. I think this is another example of excellence at Western.”
To become certified companies must involve local communities and Aboriginal Peoples in the development of forest management plans, and respect their rights and beliefs. FSC is the only standard supported by organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace.
FSC also certifies the recycled content of paper. With no verification process for most recycled papers, one can’t be sure the mobius loop (or recycled symbol) on paper means there is recycled content in it. The recycled/post-consumer waste content for FSC papers is verified, guaranteeing it has come from recycled sources.
This month Western’s Purchasing Department has also chosen to go the FSC route for the entire campus.
“We have been looking at moving to FSC paper as an effective way to demonstrate the commitment of both the university and Purchasing/Western Office Supplies to sustainability,” says Elizabeth Krische, Director of Purchasing. “The benefits of using FSC paper include a contribution to conservation and responsible management of the forests that provide the paper.”
It was a big decision.
The university consumes about 12,500 cartons of paper annually (more than 62 million sheets for printer and photocopier applications). Graphic Services will use about 1,400 cartons.
Typically, FSC paper costs more than regular paper, however Krische negotiated a savings of roughly 12 per cent by pooling the volumes of regular university printing with that of Graphic Services.
While consumers may not see a difference in the paper, they can be assured it will be more forest friendly and contain controlled fibre that cannot come from:
· Areas of social conflict and illegal logging;
· Genetically modified trees;
· High-conservation value forests; and
· Large scale conversions, which replace native tree species with faster growing non-native species.