Environment
Green Printing News
| Saturday, 01 November 2008 13:10 |
Collaborate to convince the consumer Myth: making paper destroys forests.Joe Public believes that paper, and therefore print, are killing the earth. That misconception will kill this industry unless we unite to set the record straight. So get behind the new Two Sides campaign.Myth: paper is bad for the environment Fact: in managed forests three to four trees are replanted for every one felled, so absorbing more CO2. “Paper is a crop. If you tell people that they’ll understand it.” You’ve been called to arms. This industry has a fight on its hands, one it can’t afford to lose. Consumers think paper/print is unsustainable, a misconception that’s badly damaging. The time has come to rectify that situation but to do so everyone in paper, print and the allied trades needs to rally behind the same flag. The National Association of Paper Merchants (NAPM) needs you, and your commitment to setting the record straight on environmental impact of paper/print, if its new ‘Two Sides’ initiative is to have enough impact to change consumer perception, and thus paper/print buying trends. Two Sides is the first ever industry-wide campaign aimed at addressing the myths surrounding the impact of paper and paper-based communication on the environment. It has been born out of “increasing frustration at the barrage of misleading information that continues to hit the headlines regarding the impact of paper on the environment, which has adversely affected the print and paper industries,” says Alistair Gough, president of the NAPM (and MD of Robert Horne group). Over the past four years the NAPM has recorded a 6.5% reduction in the consumption of fine and graphic arts paper. With the print and paper industries facing the prospect of further decline in response to negative environmental messaging, the NAPM took action by commissioning an independent research study into the impact of paper on our surroundings. It also conducted a survey of print buyers and specifiers to determine public opinion on the subject. What they got was a wake up call. According to the survey, 93% of respondents thought the general public were poorly informed about paper’s environmental impact. Almost 80% admitted that the perception of paper as anti-green played a role in their buying decisions. Near to 70% said their organisation pursued other form of communication to reduce paper-based products, with a similar percentage of those saying that was because of environmental considerations. This is despite over half of the media buyers in the study disagreeing that paper has a negative impact of the environment, and over half disagreeing that paper production is a major cause of deforestation. While the buyers themselves may be relatively well clued-up on the real situation, it’s all about perception, and their purchasing decisions are being driven largely by consumer beliefs. “Retailers are saying ‘recycle’, business is saying ‘read online, don’t print’ – the messaging is getting stronger all the time that paper/print is unsustainable and an environmental nightmare,” says Philip Latham, Paperlinx, who at the launch of Two Sides explained some of the background to the need for such a wide-reaching campaign. “There is some superb quality campaigning going on in terms of what damage paper/print is doing to our environment - just look at websites like www.shrinkpaper.org and www.donotmail.org. We all need to be aware of how savvy these people are in terms of communicating with the public and become as good at communicating the right message,” adds Latham. We’re not talking about a whitewash here. One of the key elements of Two Sides is that it acknowledges there are two sides to the argument. “We can’t just defend paper/print without providing a factual argument and admitting where we get it wrong,” stresses Gough. “Responsible production, print/design, and disposal will all come under scrutiny.” “Paper is pushed onto consumers every day (through brochures, direct mail, packaging etc.). Many of them don’t want it because they are being told it is bad for the environment. In some ways they are right. In the developed world we need a 50% reduction in paper consumption. In the UK we send 5.5tonnes of waste paper to landfill every year. These are statistics where we can be justifiably attacked,” points out Latham. “We need to deal with those things. We also need to change consumers’ emotion response to a factual one. Two Sides hopes to achieve this, but it needs cross industry support if it’s to succeed.” What the research behind Two Sides has thrown light on is that the environmental debate is serious, complex and emotive so the battle to redefine how paper/print is thought of will take a great deal of effort – and money! The arguments need to be faced head on, via authoritative facts, then those facts need to be distributed as wide as possible. To do this the NAPM needs hard cash and is seeking a three-year commitment from all organisations involved in paper, in print and the allied industries. So far it is committed to spending £60,000 on booklets, CD presentation materials about the industry, website maintenance, PR etc. For the next three years it is looking to raise £150,000pa to sustain the campaign. It is asking for £25 per £1m UK turnover for all companies in the sector, plus contributions from industry associations. “Commitment and funding must be secured from across the industry. We are all affected if paper/print’s credentials are not defended. With wide involvement, individual cost is low,’ stresses Gough. BPIF chief executive Michael Johnson fully endorses Two Sides. “We will invest time, money etc. in this programme. But, it needs to be about all parts of the industry working together and taking ownership of the initiative. We need to unite to get the message across that paper is a crop. If you tell people that they will understand it.” Among other supports for Two Sides is leading environmentalist Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the UK Sustainability Development Commission and founder of the Forum for the Future. “At the heart of learning to live more sustainably lies a better understanding of materials – the stuff we take from nature and in one way or another return to nature. Two Sides will not only stimulate a much deeper under understanding of the role of paper in our lives, but help us think about its production, use, re-use and eventual disposal in much more integrated, intelligent and environmentally sustainable ways” he says. Latham hits the nail on the head: “I don’t think we can reverse things totally, but we can stop the rot by redressing the balance of communication to the consumer. They need to know that the paper/print industries are not killing the earth. For more information logon to www.twosides.info 
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