Tree Free Paper Guide

***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

7/22/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

Dependence upon trees, particularly from old-growth wilderness, for

paper making is unconscionable, unnecessary and unsustainable. At

least 40% of trees that are cut are for paper. Rainforest Action

Network announces a new guide for over a dozen types of tree free

papers. Switching to a new model of paper making will be critical to

preserving remaining old growth, conserving regenerating secondary

growth and restoring adjacent degraded lands.

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: New Paper Guide Features Tree-Free and Other Environmental

Advanced Papers

Products Will Take Burden Off of Earth's Last Old Growth

Forests

Source: Rainforest Action Network, http://www.ran.org/

Contacts: Mark Westlund: 415/398-4404

Dan Imhoff: 707/895-3490

Date: July 16, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO--People searching for a handy reference to the most

environmentally advanced papers need look no further. SimpleLife, a

Northern California-based publisher has just released the Guide to

Tree-free, Recycled and Certified Papers in an effort to educate

consumers and expand the demand for papers that come from sources

other than native forests.

"Papers can be made from a wide variety of fibers other than the four

billion trees presently cut each year to supply world paper demand,"

says Dan Imhoff, SimpleLife co-founder and author of the 70-page,

beautifully designed guide. "By carefully choosing paper materials and

manufacturing processes, consumers can significantly influence the

fate of the world's disappearing native forests."

The SimpleLife Guide to Tree-Free, Recycled and Certified Papers is

full of easy-to-read information, features a reference to dozens of

paper suppliers and products, and contains 17 different paper swatches

which readers can see and touch. Manufacturers range from large mills

such as Domtar to medium-size players like Crane & Co. to small-scale

leading-edge producers like Vision Paper, makers of kenaf products.

"On July 16, 1999 we shipped more than 8,000 copies free-of-charge to

a carefully selected list of graphic designers around the United

States," continues Imhoff, who coordinated the project in fits and

starts over a two-year period. "The average graphic designer specifies

hundreds of thousands of dollars in printing and paper each year on

behalf of their clients. We wanted to make it easy and appealing to

them to at least consider tree-free and other environmentally-oriented

paper choices each time they have a job to print."

The guide's emphasis is on tree-free fibers. These include crops such

kenaf a relative of the hibiscus plant, and industrial hemp that are

grown for fiber, as well as the waste byproducts of agricultural

production such as cereal straw, corn stalks, sugar cane pulp and

cotton. In addition, SimpleLife reinforces the value of 100 percent

postconsumer papers, chlorine-free pulping methods, as well as an

emerging trend toward sustainably harvested virgin wood fibers

according to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines.

"The SimpleLife Guide presents an important vision of the way paper

production must move if healthy forests are going to exist into the

next century," says Randy Hayes, president and founder of Rainforest

Action Network, which joined a host of sponsors on the guide. "At

least forty percent of trees that are logged are cut down to make

paper. Manufacturers and consumers must reduce consumption and demand

alternatives to wood if our forests are going to survive."

The guide is available through SimpleLife at info@simplelife.com or

send $18 (which includes $3 postage and handling) to SimpleLife, P.O.

Box 37, Philo, CA 95466.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

This document is a PHOTOCOPY for educational, personal and non-

commercial use only. Recipients should seek permission from the

source for reprinting. All efforts are made to provide accurate,

timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Conservation Archives at URL= http://forests.org/

Networked by Ecological Enterprises, gbarry@forests.org