Two Sides Open Letter to Illinois Governor Challenges "Misleading Press Release"

Two Sides North America, Chicago, Ill., USA, reports that it recently sent an open letter to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to highlight Two Sides' concerns regarding statements made about going paperless and promoting electronic communications as environmentally preferable to print and paper. The open letter from Phil Riebel, president of Two Sides North America, was sent in response to what Two Sides referred to as a "misleading press release on a green initiative to mark Earth Week." 

In the letter, Riebel said that he was disappointed in the press release encouraging government employees to participate in the State's No Print Week. "Although I admire your desire to reduce environmental impacts, I disagree with the misleading message you are sending related to print and paper products. Your message is damaging to the print and paper industry that has been such an important part of Illinois and the City of Chicago throughout history," he pointed out. 

Riebel noted that today’s print, paper, and mail value chain creates more than 380,000 jobs in the State of Illinois ($62.1 billion in revenues) and a total of 8.4 million jobs across the U.S. (6% of total U.S. jobs and $1.3 trillion in sales revenue). These statistics include production, distribution, and handling of mail, paper production, and printing. "These people are part of many organizations who make daily efforts to be responsible corporate citizens by continuously reducing their environmental impacts and ensuring the responsible manufacture of print and paper products that we all benefit from. The ‘paperless’ message is often not well received, and indeed questioned by many of us in this value chain for reasons outlined in this letter," Riebel wrote.

"You are correct in saying that trees are a precious resource that helps generate oxygen and purify the air, prevent soil erosion, and recycle water. However, you should also mention that our trees and working forests are a renewable resource that is being managed responsibly throughout the State of Illinois and across the U.S., and that this resource provides numerous social, environmental, and economic benefits to our nation," Riebel explained in the letter.

Print on paper has unique environmental features that many other products and materials do not, Riebel continued. In addition to coming from a renewable resource, it is also recycled more than any other material in the U.S. and is made with a high percentage of renewable energy. "You may be surprised to learn that, contrary to popular belief, papermaking is not depleting U.S. forests. In fact, the volume of trees growing on U.S. forestland increased 49% over the past 50 years. The U.S. paper industry encourages and depends on sustainable forest management practices that regenerate billions of trees annually," he emphasized in the letter.

Far from causing deforestation, the demand for sustainably sourced paper in the U.S. promotes responsibly managed forests, Riebel asserted, adding that the income landowners receive for trees grown on their land is an important incentive to maintain, sustainably manage, and renew this valuable resource. This is especially important in areas facing economic pressure to convert forestland to non-forest uses. The fact is our working forests are an essential part of the U.S. environment and the economy. The millions of U.S. family forest owners and our many trained foresters would probably like you to retain these facts, especially those in Illinois, he emphasized.

"You also point out the environmental impacts of our growing electronic infrastructure and the importance in recycling electronics. While we clearly understand the cost and efficiency benefits of electronic communications and encourage waste reduction, Two Sides also wants to ensure that claims that promote electronic communication as more environmentally sustainable than print and paper are based on sound and peer-reviewed scientific evidence. The direct impact of electronic products and services replacing paper is far from negligible, and the trade-offs between the two depends on how often we use the different technologies and how we dispose of the products," Riebel wrote to the governor.

"Both electronic and print media are important, Riebel said, "and both have environmental impacts that must be taken into consideration. In fact, electronic communication has a significant and growing carbon footprint due to the energy requirements of a vast worldwide network of servers necessary to store information for immediate access. Electronic media also rely on significant amounts of fossil-fuel energy and non-renewable raw materials for processing and manufacturing. With electronic waste becoming the fastest growing waste stream in the world, and its related environmental and health concerns in many countries, promoting electronic communications as the sole environmental choice is unfounded," Riebel pointed out. 

In reality, he concluded, we live in an increasingly digital world where electronic and paper-based communication will coexist. Each has environmental impacts, and consumers deserve an honest portrayal. Print and paper have unique sustainable features that are sometimes forgotten.