Challenging the ‘Go Paperless’ Ruse
New research, commissioned by the international non-profit organization Two Sides, reveals that major global corporations are still using inaccurate and misleading environmental claims to encourage consumers to “go paperless” and switch from paper-based to digital communication. In the U.S., half of the leading Fortune 500 companies in banks, utilities and telecoms are still making false environmental claims.
“The fact that marketers in some of the most high-profile corporations in the world are still using unsubstantiated and misleading environmental claims to persuade consumers to switch from paper-based to cheaper electronic communication is outrageous,” declares Martyn Eustace, founder of the Two Sides initiative.
“Many consumers want a paper option but they are being manipulated by a lack of clear and accurate information,” continues Eustace. “Paper is based on a natural, highly renewable and recyclable resource and can be a sustainable way to communicate, especially when compared to electronic media.”
Two Sides maintains that the linkage made between switching from paper to electronic services and helping the environment creates a misleading impression about the sustainability of print and paper. The true picture of the excellent environmental benefits of paper is being overlooked by these false messages.
“In the U.S., the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that net forest land area has increased by 3 percent in the past 60 years, and wood volume on timberland (number of trees) has increased 58 percent during the same time period,” adds Phil Riebel, president of Two Sides North America.
Two Sides has been successful in converting 30 of North America’s Fortune 500 companies at banks, utilities and telecoms and is in discussion with a further 25 organizations that have yet to comply.
“Paper is a renewable and recyclable product that, if responsibly produced and used, can be a sustainable way to communicate,” contends Eustace. “The forest and paper industries rely on sustainable forests and they are major guardians of this precious and growing resource.”
Visit the Two Sides website at www.twosidesna.org
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
