Earlier this week I was at the first annual GOVgreen conference and had the privilege of speaking with professionals working in various parts of the government, many who have jobs relating to implementing President Obama’s Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental Energy and Economic Performance. These professionals are looking for solutions that not only comply with the order and help them achieve their sustainability goals, but are a good fit for their department’s specific purchasing, building, and policy needs.

Efficient procurement decisions are as simple as purchasing SFI-labeled cups like the ones used by conference participants, including by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. during his keynote address at GOVgreen. This provides an excellent example of consumer products that are sourced responsibly and demonstrates how simple purchasing decisions can make a difference. Our presence at the conference included sponsoring water stations, where SFI-labeled ecotainers were used, and staffing an exhibit where we interacted with dozens of conference participants. Additionally, I participated in a panel discussion about “Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Programs,” along with Christine Chase, Certification Manager at Green Seal and Graziella Siciliano, Senior Program Associate at the Alliance to Save Energy. These forums gave me an opportunity to show how forest certification works with recycling for well-rounded procurement policies. I was also able to demonstrate how SFI certification supports North American jobs and communities and how using forest products from responsibly managed forests helps keeps forests as forests. When organizations demand responsible wood and paper products, they are giving our domestic forest landowners markets for their products and incentives to continue to responsibly manage their forests. Forest certification like SFI is a necessary proof point of responsible behavior.

Thanks to all who were able to stop by the SFI booth or my presentations during the show, and we look forward to working with government organizations in finding preferred options and practices around using forest certified products.

If you take a look at our conference agenda you will see we have lined up local and international speakers who will talk about partnerships yielding benefits for the forest products marketplace, communities, First Nations, and government agencies throughout North America and globally. Keynote speaker Linda Coady, Distinguished Fellow, University of British Columbia and Vice-President of Sustainability, Vancouver Olympics Organizing Committee will talk about Certification, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability – The Next Generation.  We’ll also be making some exciting announcements.

We will be posting video from conference speakers as well as pictures from the event on our Annual Conference webpage – so check it out if you are not able to join us in Vancouver and take part virtually.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI Inc.) promotes responsibly managed forests in North America and around the world.  Consumers can look for the SFI label to know they are buying paper or wood from responsible sources – whether it is reams of paper, packaging, lumber or furniture.

Next time you head out to pick something up from the store; don’t limit yourself to looking only for a recycled label on the packaging.  By looking for both recycled goods and products from well-managed forests, you are encouraging responsible forest management, protecting woodlands for the future and showing you truly care about our forests and the communities that they support.

There’s a lot of angst in the marketplace these days about greenwashing – for good reason. Everyone wants to be green, whether it is justified or not.

The SFI program welcomes government and consumer programs that expose misleading labels and claims, because we believe there has to be mechanisms to help consumers differentiate solid programs with third-party certification audits from whimsical claims lacking integrity and substance.

A recent Green Living Online article, Will New Green Guidelines Help Consumers?, referenced two watchdog groups – the Competition Bureau of Canada and TerraChoice Environmental Marketing – that both accept SFI certification as a credible program.

In an environmental labeling standard issued a year ago, Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers, the Competition Bureau says sustainability is hard to verify so the best thing to do is identify forest products as having come from a forest certified to a standard such as SFI, the Canadian Standards Association, the Forest Stewardship Council or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes.

And just this year, in its Seven Sins of Greenwashing report, TerraChoice says SFI labels meet its criteria as an eco-label that can be trusted because we are third party certified, have a publicly available standard and a transparent standard development process.

The Green Living Online article asked if the Competition Bureau’s advertising guidelines mean consumers can be more confident they are getting a straight bill of goods. It quotes TerraChoice President Scott McDougall as saying yes, as long as the guidelines are enforced.

Scott knows what he is talking about. In research for its latest report, TerraChoice found that 98 percent of more than 2,000 product claims misled consumers in some way.

I absolutely agree with him. We need rules, and they have to be enforced. The value of credible brands is diminished by false claims that cannot be trusted.

For example, there are claims in the marketplace that pretend recycled paper is “tree free”. This is not just confusing for consumers it is misleading because recycled paper still has a significant portion of fiber derived from trees. These claims should stick with the facts. If the paper contains recycled content, say that – don’t pretend it is something it is not. Misleading claims like these undermine credible claims of recycled content and cast a cloak of uncertainty over other claims and programs that are credible and helpful to consumers.

Also in April, Boys’ Life, a monthly magazine published by the Boy Scouts of America, announced that it is being printed on SFI chain of custody certified paper. “From the forest to BSA headquarters to the pressroom to the mailboxes of more than 1 million subscribers each month, Boys’ Life adheres to a strict policy of environmental responsibility,” says the group in its April 23 press release. “At its heart, Boys’ Life is about the outdoors and about teaching our young readers to be good stewards of the outdoors,” says Mike Goldman, managing editor of Boys’ Life. We are pleased that the Scouts chose SFI to help achieve that important educational mission.