Public consultation: Spanish forest certification system

As we look toward the New Year, Two Sides North America has a lot to celebrate! With the help of our members and supporters who submitted greenwashing claims from their service providers, we’ve broken our all-time annual record with 30 additional wins in our Anti-greenwashing Campaign in 2023! These wins collectively represent more than 200 million North American consumers who are no longer seeing unsubstantiated environmental claims about paper from their financial institutions, utilities, insurance companies, government agencies and other organizations. But there’s more work to do! As companies face inflationary pressures, they’re looking for ways to cut costs. In many cases, this means urging their customers to go paperless and using misleading environmental claims about paper to get them to make the switch. And we know this tactic works! Two Sides North America research showed that 65% of U.S. consumers who’ve seen greenwashing claims are influenced to switch from paper to electronic communications.

As banks, utilities, telecom companies and government agencies face mounting economic uncertainties, many of these services providers are looking to cut costs by encouraging their customers to switch from paper to digital communications. But all too often, these cost-cutting appeals are cloaked in unsubstantiated and misleading environmental marketing claims that suggest going paperless is “green,” “saves trees” or “is better for the environment.” “These greenwashing claims not only fail to comply with established environmental marketing standards, but they also damage consumer perceptions of paper’s environmental sustainability,” says Two Sides North America President Kathi Rowzie. “And that’s a threat to the economic security of millions of people in the United States and Canada whose livelihoods depend on the paper, print and mailing sector.” North America’s leading corporations and other service providers influence millions of consumers every day with their anti-paper greenwashing claims, leading many to believe that the use of paper is destroying forests and is bad for the environment. For example, a 2021 Two Sides survey of U.S. consumers showed that 60% believe that U.S. forests are shrinking, when in fact, U.S. net forest area increased by 18 million acres over the past 30 years – the equivalent of 1,200 NFL football fields every day – according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment. The UN FAO reports that Canada’s net forest area remained stable at around 857 million acres during the same period.

Just a quick reminder that Two Sides provides a host of easily downloadable resources and tools to help you tell the great environmental story of print, paper and paper-based packaging, bust the myths, address misleading claims and share consumer perceptions about our products. Many of these resources are linked below. To access additional Members Only resources, you can log in to the Members Only section of the website. Also, don't forget that many Two Sides materials can be co-branded with member company logos. If you’ve forgotten your member login information or would like more information on co-branding, please email us at info@twosidesna.org. • Fact Sheets that provide research and data to help explain the most misunderstood aspects of the industry, from paper recovery and recycling to paperless "green" claims to the environmental impact of e-communications. • Easily-shareable infographics that highlight topics like sustainable forestry, the value of reading print on paper and anti-greenwashing campaigns. • An in-depth booklet that is full of Myths and Facts designed to educate the public about the print and paper industry. • The Busting the Myths survey report, which gives members insight into consumer perceptions and attitudes about the paper and print industry. • Blogs full of informative content, supporting an active social media presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to promote the value of print to a broad audience.