Hundreds of wishes drawn in sand wound their way through the forest in celebration of the International Day of Forests.
This spectacular art action marked the conclusion of the nationwide Wunschwald (or Forest of Wishes) campaign by PEFC Germany. People from around the country were invited to share their personal wishes for the forests of the future, and international action artist Gijs van Bon brought the most popular wishes into reality.
“It’s important that the wishes are written here so they can be read and they can be recognized by other people,” said Gijs van Bon. “If they recognize a wish, they might also join in and make that wish true.”
“My wish for the forest is that there is more forest around us and that the forests are more natural with more diversity of trees, so that people can enjoy the calm and the stillness more.”
50 well-chosen wishes also played an important role one day later when in PEFC Germany’s Forest Capital Brilon (North Rhine-Westphalia) children planted several new trees in a “Generationenwald” (“generation forest”). You can even take a walk through the wishes on Google Street View!
The campaign has since been nominated for the German Prize for Online Communication 2017!
Opponents of a California plastic bag ban have succeeded in stopping the ban from going into effect July 1 by securing a spot on the 2016 ballot.
The Golden State had been slated to become the first US state to institute such a ban, but Tuesday, state election officials confirmed that the national advocacy group American Progressive Bag Alliance had collected the necessary half million signatures to place the issue before voters. This will stall a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in September until after the 2016 election.
In the developed world, around 90% of our time is spent indoors. In recent times, this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and wellbeing in indoor environments is more important than ever. We teamed up with the Technical University of Munich to develop a literature review that explores the science behind the wellbeing benefits of building with wood. The new literature review that was developed in partnership with the Technical University of Munich dissects the increasing volume of evidence in this field that proves wood to be a stand apart building material option. The analysis reviews multiple areas of research, such as wood’s ability to reduce stress and boost productivity levels. For example, a study into the wooden waiting room at the National Oncology Institute in Slovakia saw participants experiencing a decrease in cortisol levels by 7.5%, implying a stress-reducing effect1. Similarly, a study conducted in an Austrian school compared student experience in classrooms – one with linoleum floors and plasterboard walls, and one that was wooden. Those in the wooden classroom had significantly lower heart rates and lower perception of stress2.
The brownish water and dead seabeds are gone. This year Iggesund Paperboard, manufacturer of the paperboards Invercote and Incada, can look back on a century’s unique performance record on sustainability. Iggesund Mill opened its first pulp mill in 1916, which was expanded to become an integrated pulp and paperboard mill in 1963.
I’m proud to have the privilege of working for a company whose environmental efforts are characterised by both a long-term approach and a sense of responsibility,” comments Anna Mårtensson, Environmental Managerat Iggesund Paperboard’s Swedish production facility, Iggesund Mill. “Today our environmental impact is almost non-existent compared with the situation just over 50 years ago.”
When Iggesund built its first pulp mill in 1916, environmental legislation did not exist and companies were basically free to release fibre waste and chemicals into the air and water. During the mill’s first 50 years this caused a significant negative effect on the local environment. The first emissions limits were set in 1963, symbolically the same year that biologist Rachel Carson’s famous book about the influence of pesticides on nature, Silent Spring, was published and became the alarm clock that laid the foundation of today’s environmental movement. Click Read More below for additional detail.