From A to Z, We Use #EveryPartOfTheTree

There is urgent need for government, donors and industry to support the newly established Vietnamese Forestry Certification System in order to meet the government’s ambitious forest certification targets, especially given the vast amount of smallholders in the country. It is therefore essential to ensure that certification is an affordable, accessible and realistic option for uptake throughout Vietnam’s forest sector, including smallholders. This is one of the outcomes of the ‘Furthering PEFC: Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholders Using a Cooperative Model’ workshop in Hue, Vietnam at the end of May, which brought together more than sixty stakeholders from across the forestry sector.

What’s the main purpose of the Trend Tracker survey? The purpose of the survey is to understand changing consumer preferences, perceptions and attitudes towards print, paper, paper-based packaging and tissue products, revealing challenges and opportunities for the industry. What value does it have for the paper and packaging industry? We see the survey as great value for our industry as it directly reports on consumer opinions on a number of areas within our sector. Covering a wide range of topics from forest growth and recycling rates to reading habits, packaging preferences and thoughts on mail versus digital communication, the consumer data will help to inform the industry on what’s working and what needs improving.

Print is a responsible environmental choice and an important touchpoint of any marketing campaign. That was the key message the audience heard last Thursday during the annual Ryerson Colloquium organized by the students of the Graphic Communications Management program. Dubbed Revive, Breaking Sustainability Myths, this year’s event featured a panel that set about outlining and then busting some often-heard myths about the sustainability of printing and using trees. For instance Monika Patel, director of programs and communications at the Forest Stewardship Council, told the industry crowd that trees are a renewable resource that can be planted again, once cut down. And, while recycled paper is good, the world would run out of paper if we only used recycled fibres.