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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Major Corporations to Phase Out Ancient Forest Use
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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
     http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives
	http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

12/8/98
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
Some 20 major US corporations have agreed to phase out the use of logs 
harvested from ancient forests.  This signifies a major step in 
stigmatizing the use of old-growth wood.
g.b.

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Title:    Major Corporations Promise to Phase out Use of Ancient 
          Forest
Source:   Associated Press
Status:   Copyright 1998, contact source for permission to reprint
Date:     December 8, 1998

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In a move intended to help protect the world's ancient 
forests, more than 20 U.S. companies are promising to eventually stop using 
and selling products made with old-growth wood.

All of the companies -- which include IBM Corp., Nike Inc. and the 3M Corp. -- 
have signed a pledge, said the Coastal Rainforest Coalition, which includes 
the Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network and 
Greenpeace. A formal announcement was expected today.

"The plan is to stigmatize the entire market for old-growth products," said 
Mark Westlund, spokesman for the Rainforest Action Network. "You can't save 
the Amazon and put the burden on British Columbia."

The firms have agreed to halt purchases of wood and other materials from 
companies who use products made from old growth, the coalition said, but it 
was unclear when that goal was to be met.

"It's our company's philosophy to do what we can to care for the environment," 
said Larry Rogero, environmental manager for Kinko's Inc. The copying empire 
has some 900 outlets across the country.

In dealing with paper mills, Kinko's is very specific about its requirements, 
Rogero said. "One of the criteria was the mills had to not knowingly provide 
Kinko's with products from old-growth forests."

The Rainforest Action Network says only 20 percent of the world's old-growth 
forests are left -- and only 5 percent in the United States. Old-growth 
forests consist of trees hundreds of years old that shelter many animal, bird 
and insect species.

At Levi Strauss & Co., the San Francisco-based clothing giant, scrap denim 
from plants around the country is used by an Albuquerque, N.M., mill to make 
much of the company's letterhead and other stationary, a project that began in
1990.

"It's part of our desire to be environmentally responsible," said Derek van 
Bronkhorst, the company's public affairs director. "This way, we get paper 
products at greatly reduced cost and we're not damaging old forests or filling
up landfill."

Other companies involved are Advanced Micro Devices Inc.; Bristol Myers Squibb 
Co.; Dell Computer Corp.; Estee Lauder Cos.; Hallmark Cards Inc.; Johnson & 
Johnson; Liz Claiborne Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corp.; The McGraw-Hill Cos.;
Mitsubishi Electric of America and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America; Mother 
Jones magazine; Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co.; National Geographic; Pacific 
Gas & Electric Co.; Patagonia; Quantum Corp.; Seventh Generation; Starbucks
Coffee Co.; United Stationers Supply Co.; and Utne Reader.

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