I recently attended a sustainable paper seminar hosted by Kirkwood Printing of Wilmington, Massachusetts. The event was held at Westin Hotel in Waltham and offered coffee, bagels and pastries, a big draw for me! Many paper companies set up their booths with paper samples and handouts. My favorite memento was a ready to plant spruce seedling. Companies represented were Monadnock, M-real, Cascades, NewPage, National Envelope, Finch, Mohawk, Crane & Co., the Italian company, Cordenons, Neenah and Sappi among others.
What I learned from Tammy Coe, associate of Sustainable Forestry/Smartwood, is that there is a third party certification process that printers and paper manufacturers go through to obtain the sustainable paper seal of approval. Many of these companies have strived to obtain this seal after a three year certification process. Kirkwood Printing is one of them. This assures customers that the wood and paper products they are purchasing come from forests managed to conserve biodiversity and support local communities.
For more information go to the Rainforest Alliance website.