They did it again! We barely finished reading the news about their success to move Timebrland, Nike and Adidas to cease using leather imported from cattle raised on former Amazon rainforest lands, and we got another update from Greenpeace. This time it's about Kimberly-Clark and it's even more shocking.
So here is the update we just got over the email from Greenpeace:
Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle brands, today announced stronger fiber sourcing standards that will increase conservation of forests globally and will make the company a leader for sustainably produced tissue products. In turn, Greenpeace, which worked with Kimberly-Clark on its revised standards, announced that it will end its "Kleercut" campaign, which focused on the company and its brands.
Kimberly-Clark has set a goal of obtaining 100 percent of the company's wood fiber for tissue products, including the Kleenex brand, from environmentally responsible sources. The revised standards will enhance the protection of Endangered Forests and increase the use of both Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified fiber and recycled fiber.
By 2011, Kimberly-Clark will ensure that 40 percent of its North American tissue fiber is either recycled or FSC certified -- a 71 percent increase from 2007 levels that represents 600,000 tones of fiber.
Also by the end of 2011, Kimberly-Clark will eliminate the purchase of any fiber from the Canadian Boreal Forest that is not FSC certified. This forest is North America's largest old growth forest, providing habitat for threatened wildlife such as woodland caribou and a sanctuary for more than one billion migratory birds. It is also the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon on the planet, storing the equivalent of 27 years worth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, the revised standards reinforce Kimberly-Clark's long-standing ban on use of wood fiber from illegal sources; adds a preference for post-consumer recycled fiber; and supports expansion of recycling initiatives and the identification, mapping and protection of areas that have the potential to be designated as Endangered or High Conservation Value forests.
Kudos to Greenpeace! They started Kleercut campaign in 2004 and they did a great work in educating consumers and providing the facts, as well as the alternatives as we reported last February when they released their Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide..
Congrats also to Kimberly-Clark. I know these changes are not easy, but I am positive they will find eventually how you can actually do very well by doing good and how this move will not only protect the environment in general and ancient forests specifically, but will also assist them to generate more sales and revenues.
And last but not least - I love the guys in Greenpeace not only because they know how to make missions impossible possible, but also because they have great sense of humor. Check out this video showing how they're trying to figure out their new relationship with Kimberly-Clark.
Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!
