- PARIS,FRANCE
As a Furniture Buyer I worked closely with The Rainforest Alliance in selecting manufacturers as well as in auditing and verifying sources of materials used in production of outdoor furniture. This group helps timber companies, manufacturers, and retailers make the right choices in eco-smart materials, packaging, and paper from sustainable forest resources. By having committed 3rd parties perform inspections businesses can earn the status of being ‘certified’. Similar to certified organic farming this is a long term commitment and requires a thorough review on-site over a period of time.
So I read with pleasure today in the retail trade publication Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) that GUCCI backs the Rainforest Alliance. * *
( This was a WWD misprint- Please see correction below in comments )
This policy is a positive continuation of the Gucci Group’s interest in curbing climate change and has pledged to reduce the amount of paper it uses, eliminate fiber from high conservation value forests, and only purchase recycled products or those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council by December 2010.
Other fashion brands making similar moves include: Tiffany & Co., H&M Group, Hugo Boss, and Ferragamo.
Much of this is due to a shift away from throwaway paper shopping bags supplied from one supplier Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). APP has a reputation of clear-cutting wide expanses of trees in sensitive areas thus contributing the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests.
It should be noted that many catalogs like Williams Sonoma have been using only certified sustainable sources for the millions of catalogs they send every month. Since 2006 it reported that 95% of the paper content was recycled and now it’s up to 100%. However Williams Sonoma’s policy on shopping bags notes that they only use 10% recycled content. *
Of course I do not expect to see shoppers headed to the mall with reusable shopping bags in hand as they do now when grocery shopping. However for retailers, knowing about the resources to help with purchasing decisions will certainly provide numerous benefits all around in the long run.
* Source: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Environmental Catalog Paper Procurement Policy 2008
www.rainforestalliance.org/
www.wwd.com/
www.ran.org/
Correction;
ReplyDeleteThe Gucci Group is not working with the Rainforest Alliance but with the the Rainforest Action Network. R.A.N. is a more activist based non-profit group with similar goals although it sometimes uses unconventional tactics.