From Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov Tue Sep 1 09:45:00 2009 From: Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov (Lord, Gregory R.) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 09:45:00 -0400 Subject: [certified_forest_products] Certified Forest Products - September 1, 2009 Message-ID: Some Buildings Not Living Up to Green Label August 31, 2009 By MIREYA NAVARRO The Federal Building in downtown Youngstown, Ohio, features an extensive use of natural light to illuminate offices and a white roof to reflect heat. It has LEED certification, the country's most recognized seal of approval for green buildings. But the building is hardly a model of energy efficiency. According to an environmental assessment last year, it did not score high enough to qualify for the Energy Star label granted by the Environmental Protection Agency, which ranks buildings after looking at a year's worth of utility bills. The building's cooling system, a major gas guzzler, was one culprit. Another was its design: to get its LEED label, it racked up points for things like native landscaping rather than structural energy-saving features, according to a study by the General Services Administration, which owns the building. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/science/earth/31leed.html?hp -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/certified_forest_products/attachments/20090901/07f576d2/attachment.html From Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov Tue Sep 22 08:22:00 2009 From: Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov (Lord, Gregory R.) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:22:00 -0400 Subject: [certified_forest_products] Certified Forest Products - September 22, 2009 Message-ID: Pay no attention to the man behind the label Ever since the U.S. surgeon general warned in the early '60s that cigarettes cause lung cancer, the tobacco industry has waged a fierce battle to water down warning labels the government mandated on the side of cigarette packages. As a result of this battle, it took nearly 40 years for the wording on these labels to morph from a gentle warning that smoking coffin nails ''may lead to'' cancer, heart disease and an assortment of other deadly ailments to more direct declarations that cigarettes will, in fact, kill you. Today, the battleground over warning labels is focused on nutrition and environmental stewardship. The industries at the center of these battles appear to have hit upon a new strategy to avoid getting tagged with scarlet letters from the government -- they are creating their own labeling systems. Pick up a box of Froot Loops at your local supermarket this week. Your eyes immediately will be drawn to the top of the box and a handsome new ''Smart Choices'' label, created by the nation?s largest food manufacturers and ''designed to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices.'' The food manufacturers are hoping you won't be smart enough to turn the box on its side and read the government's official Nutrition Facts label, which will inform you that the breakfast of choice among five-year-olds is loaded with enough sugar to fuel an army of diabetics. Now comes news that a purportedly non-profit group backed by the paper and timber industries appears to have the upper hand in wresting the certification of ''green'' wood products from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which for years has been the established judge of whether wood or paper products deserve to be labeled environmentally friendly. According to reports, an alternative label from the industry-backed Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is close to gaining acceptance from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which rates buildings as environmentally acceptable under its LEED certification system. This would permit wood products carrying the SFI label to be used in green buildings without jeopardizing LEED certification of the building. Public-interest lawyers for Forest Ethics, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting forests, have filed administrative complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service challenging the credibility of the SFI label and SFI?s nonprofit status. However, an FTC ruling on the complaint may not come before USGBC polls its membership on whether to accept the SFI certification. LEED officials reportedly are leaning towards accepting the SFI label because the SFI program certifies more forest acreage than FSC, which was formed in 1993 by international environmental groups (FSC includes forest industry representatives on its board). USGBC president Rick Fedrizzi was quoted in a newspaper report suggesting that inclusion of SFI in the labeling process would help convince major players ''to do better in forest management.'' For some reason, this festival of dueling labels reminds us of our favorite scene in one of Woody Allen's early comedies. In his film Sleeper, Woody goes into the hospital for a minor medical procedure and wakes up in the future, a la Rip Van Winkle (he finds himself wrapped in a BirdsEye cooking bag when he wakes up). When he is served his first meal in the future, Woody is handed a tray carrying a fatty steak covered with mounds of butter and a huge ice cream sundae. Sitting next to the plate is a pack of cigarettes. ''This stuff will kill me!'' Woody exclaims. His genial host in the future responds soothingly: ''We used to believe that, but now we know these are the healthiest things you can consume!'' http://www.businessfacilities.com/blog/2009/09/pay-no-attention-to-man-behind-label.php Study: consumers attracted to status of 'green' products more than benefits By Misty Harris, Canwest News ServiceSeptember 14, 2009 A new study finds people don't just want to signal their environmental do-gooding, they also want to flaunt that they can afford such "selfless" acts. Armed with evidence that consumers will forgo luxury for lesser-quality but higher-status "green" goods, researchers argue that elevated prices make environmentally friendly products more appealing because they signal self-sacrifice for the public good. Experiments reveal that status motives cause such products to be desirable when they're more expensive than their non-green counterparts, but are subject to a reverse effect when prices are lowered. The study ultimately finds people don't just want to signal their environmental do-gooding, they also want to flaunt that they can afford such "selfless" acts. "If you point status motives in the right direction, they can be used for something positive, with people competing to see who can be the most altruistic," says study co-author Vladas Griskevicius, a social psychologist at the University of Minnesota. "The modern alternative to being luxurious is spending extra money to broadcast that you are a pro-social, pro-environmental individual." The study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, is the first to show that tapping people's yen for social cachet can motivate them to engage in green behaviour. As Time magazine recently put it, "We may all be selfish and petty, but there's no reason the planet can't benefit from those shortcomings." Griskevicius's research was partially cued by a report showing people who bought the hybrid Toyota Prius saw the vehicle first and foremost as a means of making a personal statement, with environmental conservation placing last on a list of top-five purchase explanations. Griskevicius and his colleagues found that when people were shopping in public, preferences for green products increased, whereas online shopping at home saw preferences for such items decrease. They report that status-seeking "led people to forgo luxury and desire pro-social products only when it was salient that such choices could be observed and influence [their] reputation." The research is evocative of a 2007 Landor Associates survey that showed more than a quarter of consumers are "green hypocrites," supporting the eco-practices of companies in public but doing little to help the planet in private. A report earlier this year by Environics Research revealed only nine per cent of Canadians had purchased green household cleaning products in the previous nine months, 7% had been turning off unneeded lights or appliances, and just 6% had curbed water use. Nonetheless, fully 83% claimed enthusiasm for greening their homes. Ted Matthews, founding partner of Instinct Brand Equity Coaches in Toronto, said the message is that green products need a "physical signature" in the same way a Louis Vuitton bag boasts an iconic monogram. Take, for instance, the instantly recognizable coil of energy-saver light bulbs. "We have them here because we want to participate [in green practices]," says Matthews. "But we also want people to see when they walk into our offices that our brand supports the environment." Canada's Bullfrog Power, a popular provider of green electricity, likewise allows customers to advertise their choice -- which costs more than would a traditional supplier -- through lawn signs and window stickers. "People want to show that they are, in fact, green and are paying a premium for that privilege," says Matthews, author of Brand: It Ain't the Logo. Karran Finlay, a green marketing expert, suspects most environmentalists would be receptive to any idea that results in increased conservation efforts, regardless of consumers' motives. "Marketers and business owners have the power to persuade consumers through competitive altruism, driving [them] toward more environmentally sustainable products," says Finlay, president of Karran Finlay Marketing in Vancouver. "It becomes a win-win situation for profits and the planet." ? Copyright (c) National Post http://www.vancouversun.com/life/green-living/Study+consumers+attracted+status+green+products+more+than+benefits/1992148/story.html Environmental Groups Spar Over Certifications of Wood and Paper Products September 12, 2009 By MIREYA NAVARRO For more than a decade, the nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council generally has been viewed as the premier judge of whether a wood or paper product should be labeled as environmentally friendly. But to the dismay of major environmental groups, that label, known as F.S.C., is facing a stiff challenge from a rival certification system supported by the paper and timber industry. At stake is the trust of consumers in the ever-expanding market for "green" products. This week lawyers for ForestEthics, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting forests, filed administrative complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service challenging the credibility of the rival label, known as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or S.F.I. The complaints, which challenge S.F.I.'s nonprofit status, accuse the certification program of lax standards and deceptive marketing intended to obscure the standards and the S.F.I.'s financial ties to the forest industry. "They've essentially created a green certification system to promote their sales," said Peter Goldman, director of the Washington Forest Law Center in Seattle, the legal firm that filed the complaints on Thursday. "We believe S.F.I. has confused the marketplace." Karen Brandt, a spokeswoman for S.F.I., said that the certification program was sound and that it had met all legal requirements as a nonprofit. S.F.I. provides consumers with details about its labeling standards at its Web site, she added. "We're happy to provide them with the facts that support the credibility of our program," she said. The certification program was founded in 1995 by timber and paper companies as an alternative to F.S.C., which was formed in 1993 by international environmental groups. (F.S.C. includes forest industry representatives on its board.) The F.S.C. is bracing for a big blow if the United States Green Building Council, which rates buildings as environmentally sustainable under its so-called LEED system, starts accepting other types of certified wood next year, as it has proposed to do pending a vote by its membership. Scot Horst, a senior vice president for the council, said the proposal was prompted partly by complaints that the supply of F.S.C.-certified wood was too limited. As a compromise, LEED officials plan to come up with their own benchmarks for wood grown and harvested in a responsible manner and to accept any certification program that meets those requirements. LEED officials say that the S.F.I. program certifies more forest acreage than F.S.C. and that it showed more independence by breaking away from the American Forest and Paper Association in 2007. Still, "S.F.I. is the 800-pound gorilla," said Rick Fedrizzi, president and chief executive of Green Building Council. "That's the group that we need to try to convince to do better in forest management." For consumers, the array of eco-labels can be baffling. In the case of wood, Mr. Goldman noted that S.F.I. officials proudly state at their Web site that President Obama's daughters' new swing set at the White House was made from wood cut at S.F.I.-certified forests. Yet the president's inaugural invitation was printed on F.S.C.-certified paper. "If the White House is confused," Mr. Goldman said, "everyone must be confused." Urvashi Rangan, the director of technical policy at Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports, said that it judged F.S.C. to have "more rigorous" standards. She and other experts say S.F.I. gives forest managers more latitude than F.S.C., which generally has more specific requirements for certification. Yet Consumer Reports gives F.S.C. and S.F.I. the same rating at its GreenerChoices.org Web site: "somewhat" meaningful, as opposed to "highly" meaningful or "not" meaningful at all. In essence, Ms. Rangan said, both programs have industry ties and could apply stricter standards in areas like preventing cutting of old-growth forests. Certified forest products account for a small fraction of wood and paper sales in the United States, but both certification programs have reported significant growth in recent years. Today F.S.C. certifies about 100 million acres of forest in the United States and Canada as operating in an environmentally responsible manner, compared with 175 million acres for S.F.I. Some experts said the Green Building Council's move could sharply reduce demand for the F.S.C. label if it devised watered-down requirements for wood. "There'll be a lot less reason to get F.S.C.," said Ben Cashore, director of the Forest Policy program at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. "Why would you go for the tougher program?" Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/science/earth/12timber.html?_r=2&emc=eta1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/certified_forest_products/attachments/20090922/65c7dbb2/attachment-0001.html From Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov Tue Sep 29 09:28:53 2009 From: Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov (Lord, Gregory R.) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:28:53 -0400 Subject: [certified_forest_products] Certified Forest Products - September 29, 2009 Message-ID: Time Inc. and Hearst Launch Pilot Project to Increase Forest Certification in Maine NEW YORK, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Time Inc. and Hearst Enterprises, a division of Hearst Corporation, will work with small- and medium-sized landowners in Maine to help them achieve third-party forest certification and provide an important increase in the amount of certified fiber available in the state. The joint announcement was made today by Guy Gleysteen, senior vice president of production at Time Inc., and David Schirmer, vice president and general manager of Hearst Enterprises. Working in conjunction with Verso Paper, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative(r) Inc. (SFI(r)), the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), NewPage Corporation and Sappi Fine Papers, Time Inc. and Hearst will help small landowners coordinate their third-party certification audits to either the SFI(r) program or the ATFS program -- creating cost efficiencies and encouraging more participation. The pilot program is designed to demonstrate a cost-effective approach to forest certification and will add approximately one million acres to Maine's certified forests. "The SFI(r) and ATFS programs both use the same accredited certification bodies, so we have designed an approach for the required audits that is more cost effective," Gleysteen said. "This is the first time certification to both the SFI(r) and ATFS standards has taken this coordinated approach." "As the demand for certified fiber is increasing, we need to find ways to increase the supply so we can meet our commitment to source from third-party certified sources," Schirmer said. "In addition to the expected one million acres of newly certified land in Maine, this initiative will act as a model for future cost-effective certification programs." "In Maine, we value all independent forest certification standards, including SFI(r) and ATFS," said Maine Governor John Baldacci. "We welcome this pilot, at Time Inc. and Hearst's initiative, which will help to improve our state's strong certification record." Time Inc. and Hearst, among the largest publishers in the U.S., both have made commitments to working with their suppliers to increase the supply of certified fiber. A recent report from the United Nations reported that certification globally has stalled, with only eight percent of the world's forests certified. Although Maine has the highest percentage of certified lands of any state, there are still close to 10 million acres of forest that are not certified. In 2008, Gov. Baldacci signed an executive order (www.maine.gov/purchase/policies/Exec_Order_Paper_Procurement_6182008.pd f) that directed state officials to buy wood or paper products from forests certified to a third-party certification standard. Sixty percent of the fiber in forest products manufactured in the U.S. comes from 10 million family forests, and most are not certified mainly due to economic feasibility and lack of resources to certify small areas of land. Through the pilot project, each landowner must still have an accredited certification body complete an on-site audit to verify that operations meet the ATFS standard. These audits will be coordinated with the SFI(r) audit sites as well so they can be managed more efficiently, lowering costs and expenses. The SFI(r) audits will be conducted to the new SFI(r) 2010-2014 Standard and will help increase understanding of certification across medium-sized land holdings. The results of the pilot will be shared with other states and companies so they can introduce similar projects. The project will begin in October and is expected to run through the end of 2010. The SFI(r) program is one of the largest third-party forest certification programs in the world, with more than 175 million acres certified across North America and has more than 245 program participants, most of whom represent medium to large forest companies. ATFS has certified 24 million acres of privately owned forestland in 46 states representing more than 90,000 family forest owners. SFI recognizes ATFS fiber and the two organizations have a history of collaboration, including SFI implementation committees which engage in family forest owner outreach and work with Project Learning Tree. Both Project Learning Tree and ATFS are programs of the American Forest Foundation. About Time Inc. Time Inc., a Time Warner company, is a world class branded content company, investing in the future and engaging more than 123 million consumers monthly; whenever, however, and wherever they are. With 22 magazines and 26 web sites in the U.S., it is the country's largest consumer publisher. Each month, one out of every two American adults reads a Time Inc. magazine, and nearly one out of every seven, who are online, visits a company web site (more than 27 million monthly unique visitors). Time Inc.'s popular brands and successful franchises extend to online, television, cable VOD, satellite radio, mobile devices, events and branded products. About Hearst Enterprises Hearst Enterprises, a division of Hearst Corporation, is responsible for paper procurement for Hearst Magazines, Hearst Newspapers and other Hearst-owned publications. For more information about Hearst Enterprises purchasing environmentally responsible paper please refer to the Being Green section on Hearst's corporate Web site (www.hearst.com/beinggreen). Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) is one of the nation's largest diversified media companies, engaged in a broad range of publishing, broadcasting, cable networking and diversified communications activities. SOURCE Time Inc. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/time-inc-and-hearst-launch-pilot -project-to-increase-forest-certification-in-maine-62359227.html MAINE COMMITTEE WINS SFI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Maine won the 11th annual Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Implementation Committee achievement award for a combination of activities promoting responsible forest management and community outreach. "In Maine, we value all independent forest certification standards, including SFI," said Maine Governor John Baldacci. "This is borne out by our strong certification record. I congratulate Maine's SFI Implementation Committee for all that it has done for our state's forests and communities." The SFI Implementation Committee was actively involved in the Maine Green Forest Summit, initiated by Baldacci, which raised awareness about forest certification and market opportunities for certified products. It brought together more than 250 groups and individuals - from architects to logging contractors. One of the outcomes was a partnership with Bank of America to help build a home with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland. "It's not a surprise that our committee is so active - Maine has the highest percentage of certified lands of any state, and three quarters of these lands meet the SFI forest standard," said Pat Sirois, coordinator of the Maine SFI Implementation Committee. "We owe it to the people of Maine to manage these forestlands well, and involve them in what we are doing." Maine, which is 90 percent forestland, has 5.5. million acres (2.2 million hectares) certified to the SFI standard, as well as mills with SFI chain-of-custody or fiber sourcing certification. In 2008, Baldacci directed state officials to buy wood or paper products from forests certified to an independent certification standard such as SFI. "The Maine SFI Implementation Committee has found countless ways to improve forest practices and deliver community benefits across the state," Kathy Abusow, president and CEO of SFI Inc., said today. "Members have been involved in everything from Habitat for Humanity to the Maine Green Forest Summit in addition to their day-to-day work supporting small landowners, promoting best management practices, and delivering logger training and public outreach." The committee activities include: * Training: The committee has endorsed two logger training programs, which have significantly improved safety performance, and has developed, facilitated and delivered continuing education programs for loggers, foresters and landowners. More than 2,500 forestry professionals and landowners will have received SFI-related training in Maine in 2008 and 2009. * Public outreach: Maine was the first SFI Implementation Committee to introduce a toll-free number so the public can ask questions about site-specific forest practices. Although more than 95 percent of calls are not related to lands owned by SFI program participants, the information received is used to develop training in areas such as water quality, aesthetics and harvest practices. * Best Management Practices: The committee helped develop a program administered by the Maine Forest Service to monitor best management practices to protect water quality. Stream crossing maintenance represented the greatest opportunity for improvement so the committee, in partnership with the state and federal agencies, is loaning metal bridges and wooden bridge mats to loggers needing temporary crossings, and arranging stream crossing workshops. * Landowner outreach - The committee worked with the Small Woodlands Owners Association of Maine to reach small landowners, and in 2008 paid to distribute 400 copies of the Small Woodlands Owners Handbook. The independent, non-profit SFI Inc. is one of the largest third-party forest certification programs in the world, with more than 175 million acres (70 million hectares) certified across North America. There are 37 SFI Implementation Committees at state, provincial or regional levels across the United States and Canada, which extend the benefits of the SFI program beyond SFI-certified lands. Committee members support community outreach, promote best management practices and deliver training programs for loggers and forest professionals. The Maine SFI Implementation Committee, which received the achievement award at the SFI annual conference today, earlier won the award in 2000. Its members include private landowners, public agencies, forest companies of all sizes, conservation groups, educational programs and universities, and they work closely with a wide range of partners, including environmental organizations. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/certified_forest_products/attachments/20090929/26ce56a6/attachment-0001.html