Heart of Green

Saving Forests with Beauty

It was a historic moment at the GreenBiz State of Green Business Forum in San Francisco. “We want to be known as the company that is helping to end deforestation,” said Tod Arbogast, the Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility for Avon Cosmetics. This is the kind of visionary statement that will heal the world.

As Arbogast continued, a cheering section developed in the back of the room. “The depletion of nature is becoming an increasing issue of concern for women,” he remarked. “Our representatives can become champions of conscious consumption and a force for good to nurture nature." I think he is right. People are recycling and are ready for something more. They want to ensure their children will inherit a beautiful world.

The past Director of Sustainable Business at Dell, Tod Arbogast delivered an outstanding presentation on how to be a successful Chief Sustainability Officer and transform an institution, while improving the bottom line.

“I encourage companies to take action voluntarily before relevant issues escalate and become required,” instructed Tod. Which issues are poised to tip? He advised paying attention to deforestation, biodiversity, tar sands, palm oil, and nanotechnology.” This is clearly a man to watch.

Why does Avon care about forests?  "We are the largest print publisher in the world. We print 1 billion catalogs per year,” explained Arbogast. He gave a complimentary plug for ForestEthics with whom he worked at Dell to switch catalogs from virgin to recycled paper and save millions of trees.

Check out his Avon Paper Promise and Hello Green Tomorrow initiatives. Avon is committed to printing its catalogs on recycled and sustainable Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper. They are also switching to 100% sustainable palm oil to save rainforests in Indonesia. The world just got a little bit more beautiful.

“Focus on doing the right thing,” concluded Tod. “The rest will follow.”

Campovida: Field of Life

The next stop on the Heart of Green™ eco-travel summer was Campovida, a bucolic paradise in Mendocino County north of the Wine Country. If you are looking to get back to the good things in life – organic foods, wines, gardens, sun, stars – then step into this revitalizing Field of Life.

The first thing you notice upon arrival is the sense of tranquility, but don’t be fooled, you can make your own festivities in this retreat if you are so inclined. The view out the cottage windows is to die for. Picture rolling fields for as far as the eye can see. The heritage oak trees on the property are gorgeous.

Campovida is a feast for the senses. You can taste delectable biodynamic wines from the local Magnanimus Wine Group. They make From Grape To Glass look and taste good, and I was especially fond of the Talmage and Mendocino Farms varietals. We began our experience in the Tasting Room and then proceeded to the heart of the property – the Tuscan Organic Gardens. For 13 acres, these masterful gardens thrive and delight under the expert care of Ken Boek. Sampling fresh herbs right off the vine and touring the butterfly-friendly garden with Monarchs are two unforgettable highlights not to be missed.

For parties, retreats, weddings and more, there is an impressive Pavilion that looks like it was designed by Buckminster Fuller. Its 360-degree deck overlooks a far-reaching pond inhabited by beautiful birds and foliage. It is the perfect place to partake in Magnanimus wine tasting and good conversation at sunset. There is also a fantastic natural salt-water pool for sunning and swimming.

Gourmet dining in the fields of Campovida was an extraordinary experience. You take your seat at a long candlelit table under trellises of grape vines. Our dinner was prepared by Chef Bruce Riezenman and Park Avenue Catering, Sonoma’s longest-standing green-certified caterer. Every course was mouth-watering and infused with local organic ingredients. The dinner was akin to Outstanding in the Field, except that you can fortuitously spend the night afterward in a pretty cottage. The party then took an unexpected twist – a campfire!  Singing songs with talented local musicians under the stars capped off a magical night.

Campovida has an esteemed eco-history, beginning its life as the historic Fetzer Valley Oaks Food & Wine Center. Nurtured by the Fetzer family as an ode to organic and biodynamic stewardship, the property was frequent host to culinary greats such as Julia Child, John Ash, and Emeril.

The lovely new owners of Campovida, Anna Beuselinck and Gary Breen, have restored the grounds in a sustainable way. They reclaimed and repurposed over 90% of the center’s wood and materials. Solar hot water heating, recycling, composting, eco-friendly paper products, and green cleaning are in effect. Guests enjoy certified organic farm produce and one of my favorite eco-conscious body lotions, 80 Acres by McEvoy Ranch in Verde and Lavender. Campovida partners with Green Mary to make on-site events as green as can be. And of course, there are the splendid gardens to behold and savor. With natural pest control and no fences, these gardens also serve as a wildlife corridor for friendly critters in Mendocino County who need Freedom To Roam.

If you have time, there are many exciting eco-excursions in the surrounding area. At the heart of the 12-acre Solar Living Center in Hopland is one of the greenest stores on the planet – the flagship Real Goods outpost. If you are passing through Ukiah, don’t miss the secret City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. You can then zoom up to the Humboldt Redwoods State Park and take in the most magnificent old-growth redwood trees I have ever seen. One is forever transformed in the groves along Avenue of the Giants.

So if you are feeling in need of a regenerating back-to-nature getaway, head to Campovida for a new lease on life. Spend the night, spend the week, or visit for one of their fun upcoming events like Gala on the Green. The fields are waiting. www.campovida.com

Miracle for the Boreal Forest

If a tree is saved in the forest, does anybody hear it?  Absolutely yes. Today we are celebrating ForestEthics and its partners achieving the largest conservation initiative in history:  a landmark agreement to save up to 175 million acres of the Boreal Forest in Canada, the Amazon of the North. A moratorium on logging in 70 million acres is effective immediately. Planning is underway to protect the full 175 million in three years. Now that is good green news!

How did this record-shattering Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement occur?  In 2000, ForestEthics realized that the Boreal Forest was facing the ax, being logged at a rate of 2 acres per minute. ForestEthics followed the logs and the money to the U.S. marketplace. Office paper, catalogs, and junk mail were eating up this pristine forest ecosystem. It was time to act.

ForestEthics went sector by sector, launching and winning market campaigns in the office supply industry (FedEx, OfficeDepot and Staples) and then the catalog industry with Victoria's Secret. In each case, the companies transformed their policy policies from unsustainable to sustainable. The recycled paper mills started operating at record-high capacity. Many other catalogs followed the sexy lead and switched to FSC-certified or recycled paper including Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Patagonia, Macy's, and Dell. Relief in the Boreal forest had begun. Greenpeace Canada and Canopy also waged and won campaigns in the toilet paper and book sectors. Junk mail is next with celebrities like Adrian Grenier, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Darryl Hannah signing on to the ForestEthics Do Not Mail campaign.

The Amazon of the North

The Boreal is one impressive grove of trees. It is the world's largest intact forest. It is also the largest source of fresh water on the planet. The Boreal stores nearly twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests. All Boreal forests (in Canada and neighboring countries) store 703 gigatons of carbon, while the world's tropical forests store 375 gigatons. This is a long way of saying that preserving the Boreal preserves life on Earth.

As ForestEthics Executive Director Todd Paglia says, “The Earth’s natural systems provide us with the air we breathe and water we drink. This new agreement is critically important because forests are not just about trees. They are about the people and wildlife that depend upon them for survival.”

We are all breathing a little easier today knowing that the Boreal forest is on its way to surviving for future generations.

Be a Forest Protector

You don’t have to be a woodland caribou to get in on the action. Here are a few ways to become a forest protector:

• Use recycled paper
• Ask that businesses use recycled and FSC-certified paper
• Unsubscribe from catalogs still printing on virgin paper
• Buy only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) wood products
• Sport your own pair of PACT undies
• Participate in ForestEthics’ future market campaigns

To protect fully the 175 million acres of Boreal forest, it will be critical to keep the pressure on during the next three years. Let’s band together and ensure that the Boreal remains an eco-treasure trove for generations to come. In the meantime, it is time to celebrate this remarkable new lease on life for the Amazon of the North. Pop open the organic champagne!

Watch a great video of the launch announcement

Read Todd Paglia’s article on Grist

Saving 300 Acres in 30 Days

Heart of Green is proud to sponsor 300 Acres, an opportunity to save a pristine piece of the Amazon rainforest and its people. Allow me to introduce Natalie Villalobos, an inspiring member of the Google Earth Outreach team. She recently met Quichuar healer Flavio Santi and learned that he had only 30 days to save 300 acres of his homeland in Ecuador. The land is slated to be sold, divided up, deforested, and mined for gold. The 300 acres is sacred to the Amazanga tribe and actually has the name “Forest for our future children.”

Natalie was moved by Flavio’s story and realized that she was in a position to use modern technology to help. Enter the 300 Acres site, which presents an opportunity to be an Avatar in real life and save Pandora-like forests and indigenous peoples. Where is our flying raptor when we need it?  The price to preserve the rainforest is $70,000. If the tribe can show progress towards meeting this goal by April 5, they will likely buy more time to gather the remaining funds. Natalie has raised a remarkable $25,000 in two weeks and has tremendous forward momentum.

Watch the video of Flavio Santi and hear his poetic words: “I want to invite you all to come together to look for the best way to save the planet so that our future generations will live in a healthy earth.” 

Visit the beautiful 300 Acres web site and consider joining me in supporting the cause. Every dollar helps!

In a world in which we sometimes feel powerless to make a big difference, here is an incredible opportunity. As Natalie says, “We are all connected. They are our neighbors, and we can take care of this land together."

The Legacy of Luna

Imagine living in a tree for one day. Now imagine staying up there for 2 years!

This month we are celebrating the landmark 10th Year Anniversary of Luna and the day Julia Butterfly Hill came down from the iconic 1,000-year-old redwood tree in which she lived for 738 days to save Humboldt Country’s old-growth forests from clearcutting.

The legacy of Luna lives on via the Sanctuary Forest Luna Preservation Endowment fund and via Julia’s new organization The Engage Network, which is enabling citizens to discover their purpose and become leaders in their community in many sectors including local food, green jobs, the environment and more. Join us for an exciting array of Luna Events this month including a film screening on February 23 with Julia Butterfly Hill and Joanna Macy at the Brower Center and a celebrity yoga class on February 28. Learn more and RSVP at www.whatsyourtree.org/events

Help Protect an Urban Forest, and Property Rights

On bucolic Bayview Street in Marin Country, Anne Wolff lives in her home among a beloved grove of eucalyptus trees.  It is an idyllic site except for one thing - her neighbors who want to chop the trees down!

Anne has survived many hardships including the Great Depression and the recent passing of her husband.  However, nothing had quite prepared Anne for the day she received notice that two neighbors were suing her to chop the magnificent trees down. 

The eucalyptus trees have been on the land for 105 years.  They were planted all over the SF Bay Area as windbreaks, are prevalent in popular places like the Presidio, and live for 300 years.  Her neighbors leading the lawsuit (“the M’s”) moved into their newly-built home in January 1996.  Anne followed and moved into the neighborhood, ironically called Palm Hill, in October 1996.  Anne and her late husband specifically chose the dwelling because of the beautiful eucalyptus grove. 

The key point is that the grove existed before Anne and the neighbors moved in.  Would we want to tear down a neighboring church because the bells are too loud on Sunday mornings?

Anyone who has lived near eucalyptus trees knows that they leave a bountiful trail of leaves prized for their fragrant oil.  Eucalyptus flowers produce an abundance of nectar, providing food for birds and pollinators.  Anne Wolff hires arborists every two years to prune the trees.  "These trees sequester carbon dioxide," Wolff said. "They're a very integral part of my house. I don't believe in killing anything just because someone becomes bothered by the leaves, or they suddenly decide they are a nuisance."

A few intriguing green facts about eucalyptus trees:

• Eucalyptus trees were first planted in California in the 1850s from Australia during the California Gold Rush.
• Eucalyptus trees provide habitat for owls, small animals, and many birds. In their native Australia, the trees are a favorite of koala bears.
• Eucalyptus trees are fast-growing and can sequester more carbon than many trees in the fight against global warming.
• Eucalyptus trees are effective shields against high winds.

Because of the M’s lawsuit, Marin County Superior Court Judge Michael Dufficy has ordered Anne Wolff to cut down 28 eucalyptus trees on her property, a situation which she did not create.  Legal experts are worried that this could create a dangerous precedent for property owners everywhere if not overturned. Anne is seeking to challenge this ruling in the San Francisco Court of Appeals but needs the support of the community.

"If I lose this case, it means anyone can get an arborist and say their neighbors' trees might fall down," Wolff said. "These trees are heritage trees, and they are totally safe. In the 13 years I have lived here, the neighbors have not had one scratch."

Please sign the petition to save the 28 trees. Help us get to 1,000 signatures and rescue these trees and other urban forests from the ax.

Anne’s lawyer, Michael Coffino, reported that the neighbors presented no evidence of negligence or harm in the case.  The fire department does not see a fire danger.  "It’s definitely a slippery slope when one homeowner is singled out for a condition that is prevalent across the state," Coffino said. "If you are concerned about eucalyptus or any trees, don't move into that neighborhood."

If the M’s prevail, it would set an unfortunate precedent.  Anne sees herself fighting for not only her grove of trees but also the survival of landmark trees in cities everywhere.

Interestingly, not all of Anne’s neighbors agree with the ordered clear-cutting.  The Krapels for example moved to Bayview Street because of the natural beauty and would like to see the trees rescued.  “Our entire street is full of trees, and we don't see how these trees present any more of a hazard than others.  If this case prevails, it could result in a clear-cutting of the entire neighborhood.  What's so unique about our town of Larkspur is that it’s near the big city of San Francisco, and yet one is surrounded by trees.  That’s what makes our community unique, and it should be preserved.”  The Krapels’ daughter loves playing in the grove of trees and would be heart-broken to lose her tall green friends.

Anne is prepared to go all the way to protect the eucalyptus trees, even to the Supreme Court if necessary, and I want to support her.  Some things are worth fighting for, and the urban forest is one of them.  We must preserve the natural soul of our land that sustains and renews us, so that future generations can enjoy it as we have.

Sign The Petition:  Help to save the 100-year old trees from the chopping block, and stop the dangerous legal precedent for property owners.  Help urban forests remain standing for the benefit of all citizens. Please sign the petition to save the trees here.  Please spread the word. Together, we can save these trees!

Adapted from the San Francisco Chronicle article entitled “Property rights at stake in tussle over trees” by Peter Fimrite on November 17, 2009.

Celebrate the Amazon

I am always happy to serve on the host committee for the Amazon Watch celebration event. Led by bright light Atossa Soltani, Amazon Watch is making a big difference for the indigenous people, trees and animals that call the majestic and imperiled Amazon rainforest home. 

Please join us at the Amazon Watch gathering on October 7 in the Green Room in San Francisco. Enjoy a delicious luncheon, celebrate the recent victories in protecting the Amazon and the indigenous peoples who live there, and hear a special vocal performance by the very talented activist actress Q'orianka Kilcher. She got her start singing which most people do not know, and it will be a rare treat to hear her sing!

Amazon Watch Celebration Luncheon
October 7, 2009
12 noon - 1:30 pm
The Green Room, War Memorial Veterans Building
401 Van Ness Avenue, Second Floor
San Francisco

Space is limited. Complimentary entry. Donor's Choice.
RSVP at amazon watch dot org or to 415-487-9600 x356
Ask to sit at one of my tables if you like. We will have fun!

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most extraordinary places on earth. Its rainclouds supply over half of the water for America's farmlands. The Amazon basin stores over 85 billion metric tons of carbon and is working overtime to keep our warming planet cool. It gives us over 20% of the world's oxygen for breathing. Net net, we could not currently survive without this tropical paradise and need to treat the Amazon as the precious and invaluable resource that it is.

If you like movies, you are invited to attend the San Francisco premiere of the film CRUDE about the $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador. It is playing in San Francisco starting September 25 for just one week, and it is a riveting motion picture experience not to be missed!  www.crudethemovie.com

Learn more about Amazon Watch's brilliant work at www.amazonwatch.org

ForestEthics 100 Million Trees Party

Thank you all for attending the 100 Million Trees Party and making this the most successful event in ForestEthics' history!  Together we sipped, savored and helped to stop junk mail and save endangered forests in North America.

100 Million Trees Party
A Party to Stop Junk Mail

WHEN:
Thursday, September 10, 2009
6:00 pm  VIP Reception with Celebrity Hosts
7:00 pm  Doors open for Cocktail Party

WHERE:
Canopied Terrace at W San Francisco
181 Third Street, San Francisco

CELEBRITY HOSTS:
Actress Annabelle Gurwitch, David de Rothschild, Producer Peter Glatzer, Darren Moore

HOST COMMITTEE:
Co-Chairs:  Nadine Weil, Marika Holmgren

Hosts:  Jenevieve Randall, Zem Joaquin, Dorka Keehn, Michael Klein, Lani Alo, Stephanie Alston, Murat Armbruster, Josh Becker & Jonna Hunter, Tzeporah Berman, Jessica Brittsan, Adam Browning, Scott Bryan, Andre Carothers, Andy Leebron Clay, Jim Clay, Sheryl Cohen, Neal Gorenflo, Peter Henig, Kevin Johnson, Tracy Lloyd, Marianne Manilov, Todd Paglia, Warner Phillips, Andrea Rudominer, Stephanie Russell, Heather Sarantis, Julie Bergman Sender, Stuart Sender, Jewell Sparks, Michael Uehara, Crystal Vann Wallstrom, Francesca Vietor, Pamela Wellner & Eugene Dickey, Thomas Van Dyck, Mark Westlund

ATTIRE:
Cocktail Attire

FEATURING:

• Celebrity Guests and VIP Reception
• Eco-friendly cocktails courtesy of VeeV
• Top biodynamic wines by Quivira Vineyards
• Delicious organic hors d'oeuvres
• In the Company of Giants Award presented to San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi
• VIP Eco-Chic Gift Bag
• Best of Eco Silent Auction
• VIP PACT table
• Chocolate tasting by TCHO
• Eco-Beauty Station by Jane Iredale Mineral Cosmetics
• Green Forest Decor
• DJ Entertainment & Festive Cocktail Party

RSVP:
All proceeds benefit the nonprofit ForestEthics
Reserve at www.forestethics.org/event
415.863.4563 ext. 326

WHO’S THERE – THANK YOU'S:
HP Eco Solutions, Urban Revision, VeeV, Quivira Vineyards, PACT, Greenhouse Capital Partners, Jane Iredale - The Skin Care Makeup, International Orange Spa, Urban Hardwoods, Brand Neutral, Live Earth, Alter Eco, Chico Bag, Popchips, Good on Paper, Ecoist, Aveda, TCHO chocolate, Cavallo Point, Pangea Organics, Numi Tea, Blueprint Studios, Green Is Green, OCSC Sailing, Spring Store, Jurlique Biodynamic Beauty, New Leaf Paper, Epi Center MedSpa, Adam Boucher & Ethos Green Energy Asset Finance, St. Regis, Darren Moore's ecovations, Organic Events, ecofabulous, Heart of Green

Special thanks to David de Rothschild.  Visit the Plastiki Expedition's Mission Control at Pier 45 in San Francisco featuring interactive displays that delve into the depths of this pioneering adventure and re-imagine waste as a resource on our planet for fellow adventurers. 

About ForestEthics:
Based in San Francisco, ForestEthics is a lean green nonprofit organization that has helped to save over 67 million acres of forests ~ over 45 billion trees.  ForestEthics has helped Victoria’s Secret, Dell and Williams-Sonoma switch to recycled and sustainable paper in millions of catalogs.  ForestEthics has launched the campaign for a national Do Not Mail list that would be similar to the successful Do Not Call list.  100 million trees per year are at stake, and 100,000 signatures have already been collected.  In March 2009, ForestEthics achieved a historic victory when SF passed the first-ever Do Not Mail resolution. www.forestethics.org

Insider tips for getting off junk mail lists from ForestEthics

Thank you for joining us at this glamorous party to help stop junk mail!

  

Post Party Wrap Up

Check out the fabulous Party Photos by Drew Altizer here

Sign the Do Not Mail petition for a national junk mail registry

SF Philanthropist Gallery

Wonderful write-up by GreenByDesign here titled "Saving the world 100 Million Trees at a time"

SF Chronicle Sunday Style Section features 100 Million Trees

Receive 25% off a pair of hip PACT organic undies via code "FEparty25"

944 Magazine Editor's Letter and Photo Gallery

Celebrities rally to save Peru's Amazon

This week Hollywood celebrities lead by Q’orianka Kilcher gathered in front of the Consulate General of Peru in Los Angeles to protest an urgent environmental and human rights situation in the Peruvian Amazon. They marched, they danced, and they urged the media to break its silence because what happens in Peru shouldn’t stay in Peru. 

So just what is happening in Peru?  The Peruvian government under President Alan Garcia is auctioning off the indigenous peoples’ lands to oil, mining and logging corporations without their consent. Peru has already opened 75% of its Amazon territory to oil exploration. In the last month, Garcia has signed contracts for 15 more oil concessions in the Amazon.

The protests are on. Over 50,000 local people are conducting peaceful demonstrations in Peru to defend their rights and protect the environment. The President has since sent in the military. The situation has turned violent. Innocent people are being killed. It is tragic because the people are just defending their home and the rainforest, which benefits all of us.

President Garcia's decrees make it easier to transfer indigenous peoples' land rights to international corporations. They also set the stage for the privatization of water. We all know what will happen if this is allowed. The corporations will exploit the natural resources, destroy the rainforest and the community, and then move on.

The celebrities supporting this cause include Q’orianka Kilcher, Alex Meraz, Colin Farrell, Jesse Garcia (Quinceañera), Woody Harrelson, and Esai Morales.

The Peruvian people are fighting for a cleaner world and for their home in the Amazon - the lungs of the planet - for future generations. We all know that 20% of greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation. The rainforest is essential to life on Earth. However, the Peruvian government seems to be taking a big step backwards by selling out to the oil and logging companies and even resorting to violence to do so. This will lead to the irreversible destruction of virgin rainforest and increase global warming. This shows the true cost of oil. This is going backwards at a time when the world is moving forwards to a clean energy future.

The indigenous peoples in Peru are heroes of the planet. Their courage to fight for their homeland and for the rainforest is awe-inspiring and needs our support.

Read the excellent blog of Q’orianka Kilcher about the situation. Watch the YouTube video of the Hollywood protest this week. Sign the petition. Take part and spread the word. Let’s stand up for our people and our planet.

Update:  The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues released a statement on June 2 calling on the Peruvian Government to:

• Immediately suspend the state of siege against indigenous communities and organizations,
• To avoid any action, such as military intervention, that could increase the conflict,
• To abide by its national and international obligations regarding the protection of all human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples and human rights defenders.

Read the full statement here and please let them know you support it. To save the indigenous people and the Amazon forests in Peru from takeover, it is going to take a united global village.

Update:  The news has gone viral, and the public is outraged. Today June 8, 2009, there are two Emergency Demonstrations of Solidarity and Protest - one at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, D.C. at 12:30 pm EST and another at the Consulate General of Peru in Los Angeles at 3:30 pm PST. Join one if you can. We are rooting for you, Peru.

Q'orianka Kilcher is preparing to go to Peru this week. Heart of Green wishes her a safe, successful and did we mention safe journey. May good green karma be with you. Thank you for being so courageous on behalf of all of us and the planet! 

Links:

Ecorazzi article with Heart of Green

Q'orianka's acceptance speech at Young Hollywood Awards

Wangari Maathai - Tree Planter Extraordinaire

This Earth Day, I was thrilled to be able to meet a woman with a legendary heart of green:  Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Picture Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wangari Maathai and Shaklee CEO Roger Barnett all standing together. It was quite a sight to behold. The joining of three worlds - government, nonprofit and business - for a brighter future.

Wangari Maathai was on hand to plant the one millionth tree at the beautiful Shaklee headquarters.  It was the capstone of Shaklee's A Million Trees, A Million Dreams campaign started just 3 years ago. Wangari, the Governor, and Roger Barnett all rolled up their sleeves, picked up a shovel, and planted the triumphant tree. The Governor talked about his bodybuilding days and how he used to rely on Shaklee nutritional products. Now we know. "What you are doing here is extraordinary," he said. "One million trees would fill Disneyland 18 times over. I don't know how I figured that out." He also rallied support for top green businesses like Shaklee as a vital engine of growth for the economy of California.

 

Wangari plants the 1 millionth tree with a little help from her friends Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Shaklee CEO Roger Barnett 
[photo by Photo Retouch Design]

Shaklee has an impressive history as a green company. Founded in 1956, Shaklee helped to invent eco-entrepreurship by introducing nontoxic, biodegradable cleaners and creating a social marketing model with 750,000 members. In 2000, Shaklee became the first Climate Neutral company to offset all of its greenhouse gas emissions. I can also testify that their eco-friendly cleaning products really work. No "greenwashing" here. It must be that 50+ years of experience. Shaklee is now launching a new program to give one million people an opportunity to become Eco-Entrepreneurs.

Dr. Wangari Maathai is a force of nature. Her Green Belt Movement has planted more than 45 million trees in Kenya to date. It began in 1977 with a simple idea: nourish the land and sustain the people by planting trees. Africa is being deforested, with devastating affects on the water supply, the soil, and the people's quality of life. "By starting with the simple step of digging a hole and planting a tree, we plant the seeds of change for ourselves and for future generations." Her movement inspired the United Nations to launch the Billion Trees Campaign with Wangari's help.

See the brand new The Challenge for Africa book by Wangari Maathai. As she says, let's plant trees and let's also save the trees and the forests that we have left. Let's plant a tree and save a tree. One of the easiest ways to save a tree is to use recycled paper for everything. Let's bring sexy treehugging back. No granola, I promise. Visit www.greenbeltmovement.org

Completing The Circle

I would like to open up a topic for discussion - Completing The Circle. In my travels, I am talking with many more people who are recycling paper and plastic. This is a hugely positive step.

A next step in living the green life can be to complete the circle. By this I mean, using products made out of recycled paper and recycled plastic. People are focusing on the recycling part - the out - and the next area of opportunity is to focus on the in. What are the products coming into our lives made of?  If the answer is recycled paper and recycled plastic with a high percentage of post-consumer content (actually recycled by consumers first), then we have completed the circle as nature would do!  If they are made of virgin paper for example, well, then we are more like a one way street.

Initiate the Circle:  Recycle Paper
Complete the Circle:  Use Products made of Recycled Paper

Initiate the Circle:  Recycle Plastic
Complete the Circle:  Use Products made of Recycled Plastic

Paper is a great place to start because there are so many fabulous and ecofabulous products made of recycled paper, such as Seventh Generation, New Leaf Paper, Good On Paper, Green Field Paper, Eco Paper, Safeway's new Bright Green Paper Towels, and Staples 100% Recycled bright copy & printing paper. With the exception of tree-free, all paper used to be a forest. Select the highest percentage of post-consumer content that you can find, and you will really be completing the circle. Maybe you will even see the paper you recycled last month in there somewhere.

A wonderful example of a company closing the circle is TerraCycle, a company that makes products entirely from garage or waste, such as reused soda bottles and other company's extras. Tom Szaky's leading-edge company is truly turning garage into gold.

Another great case is Rickshaw Bags made from recycled PET fabric. The founder Mark Dwight calls it Bottles To Bags. The bags are so handsome, you would never know it.

Completing the circle also makes good business sense because it can be less financially and resource intensive to use existing materials than it is to chop down a new forest or to blow the top off a mountain to mine for new minerals for example. Here is a secret:  for many companies, over 90% of their carbon footprint comes from the raw materials they use. Switching to making products out of recycled materials is the greenest thing they could do.

For instance, the new Reynolds Wrap 100% Recycled aluminum foil requires 80 - 95% less energy to make than traditional foil.

As Julia Butterfly Hill says, "It is not a circle until you close it."  Let's use and reuse what we have already have at our "disposal." Let's celebrate all of the amazing recycling that is taking place and turn our attention to the regenerative beauty of completing the circle.

Amazon Watch Party

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most extraordinary places on earth. Did you know for example that rainclouds from the Amazon supply over half of the water for America's farmlands?  and that the Amazon basin stores over 85 billion metric tons of carbon? 

 

I am excited about the upcoming Amazon Watch event on October 30 in, where else, the Green Room in San Francisco. Enjoy a delicious luncheon, celebrate the recent victories in protecting the Amazon and the indigenous peoples who live there, and hear the always-astounding words of Luis Yanza - the Goldman Environmental Prize winner from Ecuador.

Amazon Watch Celebration Luncheon
October 30, 2008
12 noon - 1:30 pm
The Green Room, War Memorial Veterans Building
401 Van Ness Avenue, Second Floor
San Francisco

Space is limited. Complimentary entry. Donor's Choice.
Rsvp to 415-487-9600 or to rsvp at amazon watch dot org

Learn more about Amazon Watch at www.amazonwatch.org

100 Million Trees Party to Stop Junk Mail

You are invited to the 100 Million Trees Party this September featuring celebrity guests, organic cocktails and the Do Not Mail campaign at the chic Spanish Suite.  All proceeds benefit the nonprofit organization ForestEthics and help to stop junk mail and save forests in North America.

100 Million Trees Party
Stopping Junk Mail from the Trunk

Goal:  To take back mailboxes and save 100 million trees per year

DATE:
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
5:00 pm  Press Conference
6:00 pm  VIP Reception with Honorary Hosts
7:00 pm  Doors open for Cocktail Party

PLACE:
CLIFT Hotel Spanish Suite
495 Geary Street, San Francisco

CELEBRITY HOSTS:
Shalom Harlow, actress/model Malin Akerman, Annabelle Gurwitch, Adrian Grenier (honorary), Planet Green stars Boise Thomas and Darren Moore, Lauren Gropper, Producer Peter Glatzer

Co-Chairs:
Nadine Weil, Marika Holmgren, Todd Paglia

Host Committee:
Lani Alo, Stephanie Alston, Murat Armbruster, Tzeporah Berman, Jessica Brittsan, Adam Browning, Scott Bryan, Sheryl Cohen, Eric Corey Freed, Neal Gorenflo, Claire Greensfelder, Zem Joaquin, Michael Klein, Catherine Lerza, Idelisse Malave, Marianne Manilov, Melanie Nutter, Darian Rodriguez Heyman, David Rothschild, Andrea Rudominer, Stephanie Russell, Stuart Sender & Julie Bergman, Lauren Sorof, Michael Uehara, Francesca Vietor, Jill Waggonner, Nicole Ward, Mark Westlund, Angel Kyodo Williams

FEATURING:

• Honorary guests
• Eco-friendly cocktails by VeeV
• Top wines by Parducci, Honig & Organic Vintners
• Delicious hors d'oeuvres and sweets
• ForestEthics Do Not Mail
• Scenes from Planet Green’s Alter Eco show
• Academy of Art junk mail art and fashion
• BYOJ Bring a few junk mail pieces for shredding
• Trip to King Pacific Lodge in Great Bear Rainforest
• VIP eco-chic gift bag
• A Festive Celebration

RSVP:
General Cocktail:  $125
VIP Ticket:  $500 includes VIP Reception & Gift Bag
Sponsorship Opportunities
415-863-4563

THANK YOU TO:
World Forests:
Christopher & Amber Marie Bently of the Bently Reserve
King Pacific Lodge in the Great Bear Rainforest
Giant Sequoia:  VeeV and Parducci
Spirit Bear:  Organic Vintners, Honig, Ecofabulous, Heart of Green
Green Hero:  Epi Center MedSpa, Organic Events, ChicoBags, To Go Ware, PlanetTran hybrid car service, Numi Tea, Good on Paper notecards, Dagoba
Media Sponsor:  Reconcile Productions - Alter Eco
Special Thanks to CLIFT
Celebrity Jewelry by Amber Marie Bently

ABOUT:
ForestEthics is a modern nonprofit organization that works to save endangered forests in the US, Canada, and Chile.  Recently, ForestEthics helped Victoria’s Secret, Dell and Williams-Sonoma switch to recycled and sustainable paper in millions of catalogs. This fall, ForestEthics launched its campaign for a national Do Not Mail list that would be similar to the successful Do Not Call list and would help to stop junk mail from old-growth forests and give citizens control over their mailboxes. 100 million trees per year are at stake, and 65,000+ signatures have already been collected.  Founded in 1994 and based in San Francisco, ForestEthics has helped to save over 7 million acres of forests and just achieved a monumental 55 million acre protection agreement of the Boreal forest in Canada.  www.forestethics.org and www.donotmail.org

TIPS:
Click here to see some Tips for Stopping Junk Mail.

We hope you can join us at this glamorous green party to help stop junk mail.  www.forestethics.org/event

PHOTOS:
Click here to see the Party Photos by Drew Altizer

55 Million Acres Protected

In an extraordinary announcement yesterday, the Ontario government has agreed to protect 55 million acres of the vast Northern Boreal Forest in Canada from mining and development. This is 50% of Ontario’s pristine yet threatened Northern Boreal Forest, and an area half the size of California.  Now that is something to celebrate!

Here are some jaw-dropping facts:

Big:  55 million acres of the largest intact forest remaining on Earth are now protected from development.

Carbon:  12.5 million tonnes of CO2 is sequestered each year by the Northern Boreal forest.

Water:  The Boreal Forest ranks No. 1 in storing freshwater (in wetlands and lakes) and carbon (in trees and soil) compared to all other terrestrial ecosystems.

People:  28 First Nations indigenous communities live in the Boreal Forest.

Animals:  More than 200 animals live in the Northern Boreal, such as the bald eagle, wolverine, lake sturgeon, caribou, hundreds of songbird species, and the polar bear.

We don’t often hear about the Boreal Forest, which is a continuous belt of conifer trees across North America and Eurasia. What kinds of trees live there?  Firs, pines, and spruces for example.  Basically trees that have a cone. Perhaps the Boreal could be nicknamed the Great Conehead forest.

Over the last 3 years, ForestEthics has campaigned to raise the profile of the Boreal Forest worldwide.  They reached out to over 500 wood and paper customers including Limited Brands, Staples, and Lowes, and they supported the First Nations in their struggle to keep their natural home.

“The government of Ontario’s commitment to protect the Northern Boreal Forest raises the bar for environmental protection across Canada and around the world,” said Todd Paglia, executive director of ForestEthics.

There is still work to do to protect the Southern Boreal from accelerated logging, but ForestEthics and other environmental organizations like the Pew Environment Group are on it. If yesterday was any indication, 2008 is going to be a good year for the forests.

Save the date Tuesday September 30 for the annual ForestEthics party in San Francisco celebrating the launch of the Do Not Mail campaign to help curtail junk mail, save 100 million trees per year, and take back our mailboxes.  Bring your junk mail for shredding and recycling!  I guarantee it will be fun, or you can give my address to the catalog companies.  www.forestethics.org

FSC vs. SFI Forests

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let this photograph do the talking:

This photo shows the difference between a forest managed under the independent third-party Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification program and one managed under the industry-backed Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).  See more photos here. The difference is as clear as a smog-free day and shocking.

A common question is “What kind of wood should I buy?”  It turns out that there are no good or bad species – only good and bad forestry.  Let’s take a moment to examine FSC and SFI with the goal of getting to the green bottom of this burning issue.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

Here are the principles of FSC-certified forests:

• Never harvests more than what grows back
• Protects biodiversity and endangered species
• Saves rare ancient trees
• Guards local streams
• Supports the local people
• Uses narrow skidding trails so as not to disrupt the rest of the forest
• Prohibits replacement by tree plantations
• Bans toxic chemicals
• Bans genetically modified trees (no GMO)

In the first year under FSC, you map and inventory all of the trees and assess the biology and the streams. Then you make a sustainable plan that will do the least harm and mimic the natural life and death cycle of the forest. Trees do fall down naturally which we see while hiking!

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)

Here is what is allowed under the industry's SFI standard:

• Allows large clearcuts
• Allows logging close to rivers and streams that harms water supplies
• Allows use of toxic chemicals
• Allows conversion of old-growth forests to tree plantations
• Allows use of genetically modified trees

Who is Behind SFI:  The American Forest & Paper Association created SFI to market US timber business-as-usual logging practices as being sustainable. It is greenwashing and is funded by the largest pulp and paper companies including:

• International Paper (no. 1 largest wood processor in the world)
• Georgia-Pacific Corporation (no 2)
• Weyerhaeuser (no. 3)
• Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (no. 5)

Just saying that a company is planting “a million” trees is not the same as a well-managed sustainable forest. Clearcutting an old-growth forest to create a plantation of monoculture trees is a disaster and increasingly commonplace in Brazil and Indonesia. This isn’t a forest. This is a crop. As a result, the water wells for the local people dry up, the animals die, and the natural forest is lost forever. On a positive note, there are steps we can take not to be complicit in this debauchery.

What’s up with Deforestation?

After power plants, deforestation is the second leading cause of global warming in the world. Wood is a wonderful resource if managed sustainably.  It is naturally recyclable, biodegradable, non-toxic, easy to use, and relatively fast growing. Forests are also essential to the inner workings of our planet. Trees create oxygen, store carbon, store water, and produce vital rain clouds. At this moment, one football field worth of forest is being cleared per minute in the tropics. This is unsustainable and we have the power to quell it through our buying power.

50% of the wood imported into the US comes from illegal logging. 80% of South American and African hardwood and 90% of Asian hardwood sold in the US is illegally logged. Indonesia is the worst.

Guide to Good Green Wood

Here are a few small things that can make a big difference in the battle for good wood. We don't have to cut down the world's forests to print our docs and park our backside on a handsome chair.

1. Ask where the wood comes from. Ask for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) wood. Look for the FSC seal on the box and the invoice. Check.

2. Buy reclaimed or salvaged wood. Antiques are also the ultimate in eco-chic.

3. Buy recycled paper with a high % of post-consumer content.  For high-quality recycled copy and printing paper, Staples is great choice. FedEx Kinkos is also supporting FSC. OfficeMax is still lagging and selling paper from clearcut forests.

4. Bring your own bag to the grocery store or reuse the paper bags over and over until they shred. The paper bags at Safeway and Lucky’s are made by Weyerhaeuser under SFI. Help.

5. Bamboo is a rapidly-growing grass (weed) and a solid option for furniture.

6. Avoid SFI because fake green standards are lame.

7. Support companies and stores that sell FSC-certified or reclaimed wood products such as these super stars:

• EcoTimber
• Restoration Timber
  
• Berkeley Mills
• The Wooden Duck
• Mi Workshop 
  
• Kenneth Cobonpue
• Cisco Brothers Basal Living
• Q Collection and Q Collection Junior
  
• Bamboo Cabinets
  
• Modern Bamboo 
• Heritage Salvage  
• Tropical Salvage  

See ForestEthics, Rainforest Action Network, and the Environmental Investigation Agency for more scoop about companies that are taking their green paper and wood policies seriously, and those that aren't. ForestEthics has filed a complaint against SFI for its spurious wood standards and phony nonprofit status with the Federal Trade Commission and the IRS.

No SFI in LEED Let's Hope:  I am worried because the industry is currently lobbying the US Green Building Council heavily in all 50 states to get SFI to qualify for points under the popular LEED green building standards. This would be a catastrophe for the forests and the planet. So far the USGBC has held strong but how much lobbying can an organization take?  We need to support LEED holding firm and applaud the USGBC for wanting to promote green building standards that are truly sustainable and transformational. ForestEthics recently made a big splash exposing SFI greenwashing at the Greenbuild conference.

The best news of all is that there are now 100 million hectors of forest land that is certified under FSC. The pull from the marketplace (you) for sustainable wood is working. Every time we buy FSC, reclaimed, or recycled, we are sending a message.  www.fsc.org

Update:  Thank you for the tremendous feedback. A few people have commented that FSC is not perfect but is the best we have right now for a sustainable forestry standard. I think this is an important point. Like with industrial organics, the pressure to compromise environmental standards always increases with volume. There are reports on FSC Watch that some FSC forests have been slipping. It is critical to keep a green eye on this because FSC is our principle hope right now for preserving true forests into perpetuity. Let's encourage FSC to be the best they can be. If FSC had levels like Silver, Gold and Platinum, then there would not be a watering-down of the standard to a common demoninator; there would be a higher level of integrity to aspire to. Let's also continue using recycled materials and developing tree-free sources like bamboo, rattan, hemp, bagasse, kenaf, and abaca rope to give the forests some breathing room. They are the lungs of our planet.

Over a Barrel, not!

With gas hitting a nice round $4.00 per gallon, there has never been a better time to get even with the oil companies. Driving a car with the highest possible fuel economy is one of the best ways to fight back. It keeps more money in your pocket, and it puts less money in their pocket. Both are fun. As a neighbor’s license plate says on his Prius, “Exxon, Ha!” Walking, hybrid-cabbing, busing, and biking are also good take-that-big-oil strategies.

Oil companies are currently rich. Really rich. Consider that Exxon Mobil reported the largest corporate profit in history of $40 billion in 2007. They also fund research that tries to disprove global warming. Chevron has enjoyed 3 straight years of record profits and raked in $19 billion alone last year.

Our next stop is the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador visited recently by celebrities Daryl Hannah, Stuart Townsend, David De Rothschild, Trudie Styler, and Q’orianka Kilcher. They trekked to see the site where Texaco (now owned by Chevron) drilled and dumped 18 Billion gallons of oil contamination into the once-pristine rainforest and indigenous peoples’ homes. This is 30 times worse than Exxon Valdez. This is not an oil spill. This is an oil flood. It is a big black smelly toxic mess the size of Rhode Island for 1,700 square miles. It poisoned all of the air and water the people and animals live on, and Chevron-Texaco refuses to clean it up. Chevron, boo.

Imagine if a company dumped crude oil into the entire Golden Gate Park or Central Park?  I think there might a protest fit for a torch or more. The ah-ha for me was that Chevron-Texaco’s drilling system was designed to pollute from the start. No reinjection technology and no liners for the oil pits. This essentially guaranteed one of the greatest human rights and environmental disasters in the history of the world.

A high-profile lawsuit of 30,000 Ecuadorians versus Chevron-Texaco has been brewing for decades and is reaching the boiling point. The head lawyer Pablo Fajardo and community leader Luis Yanza just won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for their unwavering crusade for justice. The applause was boisterous. In a pivotal moment last week, the court estimated that Chevron-Texaco owes $7 billion - $16 billion in potential damages. Note that $9 billion of this is how much extra profit Texaco made by installing outdated technology designed to destroy life of all sizes and colors in the Amazon. Chevron even tried going to the top of a hill to take soil samples that they hoped were pure, but no such luck. Oil contamination is still everywhere and will be until they clean it up.

Chevron just hired the infamous Sam Singer to attempt to spin its way out of this, but let’s just say, that Mr. Singer is on the wrong side of this issue.

 

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing the premiere of the film Justicia Now. In one great scene, we see Daryl Hannah traipsing around the rainforest and getting down and dirty with the oil. Thanks to the wonders of the web and the visionary filmmakers Martin O'Brien and Robbie Proctor of MoFilms, you can download this short film for free. Over 200,000 downloads have occurred so far. I thought the film was going to be depressing and brought lots of recycled tissue paper with me. But it wasn’t. Justicia Now was riveting and enlightening because you go on a journey with the indigenous people as they protest and with the lawyers as they fight for justice. “Justicia Ya!” the people chant. I felt like chanting too.

A companion photo book called Crude Reflections: Oil, Ruin and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest by Lou Dematteis is also being released. 

For more scoop or to help, please see Amazon Watch led by the amazing Atossa Soltani, and consider joining one of their upcoming activities. Just released is their new animated YouTube video spoof by cartoonist Mark Fiore. See www.chevrontoxico.com and www.amazonwatch.org

All I can say for now is, thank goodness I finally got that Prius, which has gone 90 mph on the freeway so far without a shake. My average fuel economy is 43 mpg. And just wait until we can buy 100+ mpg plug-in hybrids. Chevron, Ha!

Real Men Save Tall Trees

We take a quick break from sexy sustainable fashion and eco-celebrities to get back to our greenhugger roots for 2 minutes. Redwood roots to be exact.

Consider for a moment the Bohemian Club, a secret all-male society. They have the privilege of owning a pristine forest of 1,500 year old redwood trees called the Bohemian Grove near the wine country in California. And they want to cut it down. Log it for profit.

Redwoods are the tallest living things on Earth. The Bohemian Grove is Sonoma County's largest remnant of unprotected ancient redwood forests. At 2,700 acres, it is five times larger than Muir Woods. I traveled the Bohemian Highway recently, and let me tell you, it is a magical place. I encourage everyone to drive this gorgeous stretch of highway between Freestone, Occidental and Monte Rio. Ok, maybe not everyone at once because the road is two lanes. The towering redwoods and scenery were so beautiful, I almost drove off the road.

The Bohemian Club is up to some un-green tricks to get an accelerated logging permit from California. They are trying for an end-around, filing for a non-industrial timber management plan and giving away acres (a misuse of a conservation easement) to get just below the 2,500 acre threshold. Check out this article entitled Bohemian Club tries new tactic to log grove.

The Bohemian Club logs some redwoods on their property now for the sale and manufacture of redwood furniture. They want to log more trees at a faster rate. If approved, the Club’s timber-harvesting plan would allow logging the entire redwood property every 15 years in perpetuity with no further public review ever. The club wants to log 1.1 million - 1.6 million board feet per year.   

This could easily turn into a green scandal. The Bohemian Club has some very prestigious members and annual guests like Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - all of whom want to be seen as green in the limelight. The Club's stepped-up logging plan seems like an unnecessary political risk for these elected officials, not to mention an environmental tragedy. It turns out that the members have the money, but the Club itself is short on funds. Why not join forces to create a win win?

Let's not be fooled either. A little bit of logging is needed for fire protection but not nearly as much as Club President Jay Mancini is requesting.

The most ironic thing of all just might be that the mascot of the Bohemian Club is the owl. The very owl that would lose its green home if the club gets its way. How do I know about the owl?  I happen to have in my possession the official Bohemian Club key chain. Don’t ask me how I got it.

If a tree falls in the forest, the planet feels it. Old-growth forests store more carbon dioxide than once thought. Traditional textbooks said the peak was at 50-70 years. Just in is landmark research showing ancient forests continuing to absorb carbon for 800 years and beyond. See The Giving Trees. If we want to smack down global warming, preserving redwood forests like the Bohemian Grove is a strong move.

There seems to be an opportunity to create a natural legacy and improve, not degrade, the Bohemian Club's public image. Consider the Hewlett and Packard families who donated the rights to their 28,000-acre San Felipe Ranch to the Nature Conservancy to protect it from development. In May 2007, HP also sold a 534-acre redwood forest in Santa Cruz to two land trusts for the Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Another great success story is the Armstrong Redwood Grove (a great place for a hike!) saved by lumberman Colonel James Armstrong in the 1870s. Perhaps the Colonel was the first official treehugger, and a non-girly-man one at that.

Cutting down trees is easy. Saving them is hard. Real men save trees. Let’s recognize the people and organizations who have saved the most open space in the world. Imagine a Saved The Planet list with a race to get to the top.

Join me in attending the upcoming public meeting about the Bohemian Grove logging permit on Thursday April 10 at 10:00 am at the Department of Forestry, 135 Ridgeway Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA, 707-576-2959. Call this number to express your views. The trees can’t speak English, so we have to speak for them. I might be there in an eco-chic dress and vegan stilettos, but I will be there.

Update:  Watch the CBS Channel 5 News story on the Bohemian Club's logging plans for the Bohemian Grove, complete with aerial photos from a helicopter. Exposed!

Do Not Mail

I just got word about the groundbreaking Do Not Mail initiative and wanted to share.

What do Adrian Grenier, Leonardo DiCaprio, Darryl Hannah, Lawrence Bender, Anna Getty, Ed Begley, Jr. and Paul Hawken have in common? 

Besides being eco-conscious celebrities, they have all signed the petition to create a national Do Not Mail registry. It would be similar to the historic Do Not Call registry which just celebrated its 5-year anniversary. Imagine being able to opt-out of junk mail. It is within our grasp thanks to a bold initiative launched today by ForestEthics.

A national Do Not Mail registry would give us control over our mailboxes. It would protect our privacy and lessen identity theft. It would save forests that absorb carbon dioxide and provide clean water to the world. And it would end one of the most annoying things around - junk mail.

Do Not Mail Campaign by ForestEthics

Launched: March 11, 2008

Signed By:
Adrian Grenier, Darryl Hannah, Alicia Silverstone, Jackson Browne, Anna Getty, Aaron Douglas, Paul Hawken, Ed Begley, Jr.

Join over 18,000 others and sign the Do Not Mail petition.

Junk mail is called junk for a reason. Americans receive 100 billion pieces of junk mail per year. 44% goes straight to a landfill unopened. These piles of credit card offers, coupons, ads, and catalogs consume more than 100 million trees and produce global warming emissions equivalent to 3.7 million cars.

I have tried everything to get rid of junk mail. Signed up for OptOutPrescreen, called catalog companies to unsubscribe, switched to electronic bill pay, wrote Return To Sender, and more. And the junk mail still keeps coming. Sometimes I feel like Will Ferrell in his Junk Mail PSA made for Live Earth.

Where does the paper come from? The irreplaceable Canadian Boreal Forest which stores more carbon than any other ecosystem on earth. Stored carbon dioxide equals less global warming. Yet, the Boreal Forest is still logged at a rate of 2 acres a minute 24 hours a day to produce junk mail, catalogs, and other paper products. This gives a whole new meaning to the term, junk in the trunk. It is more like junk from the trunk.

In an exciting newsflash, it was just discovered that old growth forests store even more carbon than originally thought. Read the pioneering Giving Trees article.

"Junk mail is more than an annoying waste of time. It's a waste of our environment," said Entourage star Adrian Grenier and Peter Glatzer, co-founders of The Green Life. "Joining ForestEthics Do Not Mail campaign is a great, easy way to stop the waste."

Let’s stop the junk mail madness, stop the waste, stop the deforestation, and stop climate change. Let’s sing the Elvis Presley song Return To Sender and take back our mailboxes. www.donotmail.org

About ForestEthics:
The nonprofit ForestEthics recognizes that individual people can create positive environmental change, and so can corporations. Armed with this unique philosophy, the organization has transformed the environmental practices of Fortune 500 companies including Staples, Home Depot, Dell, Williams-Sonoma, and Victoria Secret and has protected more than 12 million acres of endangered forests.  www.forestethics.org

Recyclable vs. Recycled Paper?

The Recyclable sign. It is popping up on more and more bills and envelopes I receive in the mail. What is up?  Is this a good thing or a mixed thing?

Promoting that paper is recyclable is good at face value because it implicitly says "please recycle me". This is a positive if more people recycle the paper, or rather the telephone bill, when they are done.

This got me thinking. Wait a second. Isn’t all paper recyclable? Couldn’t all companies therefore put a Recyclable sign their paper?  Um, yes. All paper can be put in a recycling bin, both virgin paper and recycled paper.

So companies that are using the Recyclable symbol are getting the benefit of seeming environmentally-friendly without taking the essential step. These companies want us to do the work of recycling their envelope, but they are not yet willing to print green.

Recyclable does not equal Recycled. The most eco-friendly move is to print on recycled paper with at least 30-40% post-consumer content. 100% post-consumer is eco rock star.  Post-consumer comes from paper that has actually been recycled (second generation like your newspapers and junk mail in the blue bin). Pre-consumer comes from the virgin paper-making process itself, like the holes punched in notebooks or waste from cutting envelopes. Yes way. This was a huge ah-ha moment for me.

Now the Recyclable symbol is a legitimate symbol, as is the Recycled symbol. But they look so darn similar. Recyclable (far left) doesn't have a filled in surrounding circle, and Recycled does?  Hmmm, this seems confusing.

The FTC guidelines for the use of environmental marketing claims is an interesting bedtime read.

So I have to conclude that the Recyclable sign on paper gets an eco-grade of a C. It is positive in that it promotes recycling. However, it allows a company to seem green without having to do the most important thing for the planet: print on recycled paper with a high percentage of post-consumer content.

A reader correctly pointed out that a company might be offering electronic bill pay, which is the most eco-friendly of all. Submit.

Why Recycled Paper Is So Fabulous

For each ton of recycled paper used instead of virgin paper, it reduces total energy consumption by 27%, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 47%, reduces particulate emissions by 28%, reduces wastewater by 33%, reduces solid waste by 54%, and reduces tree wood use by 100%. Not too shabby. Said another way, 1 ton of recycled paper = 17 trees saved and 7,000 gallons of water saved.

It can be fun to find all of the virgin paper lurking in the corners of the home and office, and then replace with recycled paper. Printing, copying, tissue paper, napkins, paper towels. I like Seventh Generation products, and their tissue boxes are stylish in front of guests too. See the outstanding NRDC Shopper's Guide to Saving Forests.

Kudos to the companies that are printing on recycled paper like Dell and Bank of America. It makes paying my bills just that much more enjoyable. So let's go green and turn that "able" into an "ed".

Forest Victory of 5 Million Acres

All you doomsday people take 5. It is time to celebrate a spectacular green victory.

5.4 million acres of inland temperate rainforest in British Columbia have been saved from logging, mining, and road building. Kudos to ForestEthics for helping to lead this 10-year campaign, and to the British Colombia government for ultimately seeing the forest for the trees and stepping up its greenness.

To high five the British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell for his commitment, and subtly encourage him to keep it, you can send a thank you message.

The mountain caribou are smiling today. These majestic mammals are critically endangered and only 1,900 remain. With this announcement, 95% of the caribou’s favorite habitat will be protected, giving this species new hope for survival.

Cool factoids: Mountain caribou are the only members of the deer family in which both males and females have antlers. Also, caribou and reindeer are technically the same species (Rangifer trarandus).

As we continue protect the world’s remaining wild places, the planet will continue to protect us. The forests are estimated to provide trillions of dollars of natural services to humanity each year including clean water filtration, rain clouds, clean air filtration, and carbon storage which mitigates global warming.

Back to forests, it was just reported that Sears is printing 425 million catalogs per year using trees from the endangered old-growth Boreal Forest in Canada. The Boreal  Forest is among the largest intact forest ecosystems left on earth . The debauchery includes the iconic Sears Catalog and Lands End. This is so old-school. Let’s encourage Sears to go green and embrace recycled paper. See www.catalogcutdown.com for all the details.