Celebrating Football Fields of New Forests

Forests in the U.S. are looking very good indeed, thanks in large part to sustainable forestry practices.

According to a new infographic from Two Sides North America, “U.S. forests grew by 5,800 NFL football fields per day between 2007 and 2012 due to sustainable forestry practices.” That’s a huge amount of new forest land for this beautiful country.

The infographic, published to coincide with Earth Day this year, and highlighted in this article in PI World, points out some other key facts that show that the general public is beginning to truly understand the net positive effect of sustainable forestry and how it’s used by the paper industry.

• 91% of U.S. consumers surveyed, agreed that print and paper can be a sustainable way to communicate when responsibly produced, used and recycled.
• Electronic communications have a significant and growing environmental footprint that cannot be ignored by corporations.

• The majority of consumers believe that “go green – go paperless” claims are designed to save costs.

“The objective of this new infographic is to make people realize that most environmental claims related to going paperless are based on marketing and cost reduction tactics rather than verifiable and specific scientific facts — a requirement of the Green Guides published by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission,” says Phil Riebel, President of Two Sides North America. “As a result, over 170 leading corporations across the globe, including many of the Fortune 100, have now removed such claims due to our anti-greenwash campaign which has now been running since early 2012.”

Consumers have long been skeptical of the greenwashing claims, and more and more big brands are realizing that their “green” claims are not only falling on deaf ears, but they are not supported by facts.

The truth is, sustainable forest management and recycling, which the modern paper industry relies on, actually saves lands that might otherwise be razed for other commercial purposes.

The facts speak volumes … football fields worth of volumes, and it’s exciting to be working in an industry that is making such a positive impact on the future of this beautiful place we call home.