What is considered “Green” paper?

There are a number of organizations now that monitor paper making and the forests from where pulp is derived.  The most common include the Forest Stewardship Council http://www.fscus.org/, the Green Press Initiative http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/, and the SmartWood/Rainforest Alliance http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/forestry/certification. One of the many functions of the Smartwood/Rainforest Alliance is that it acts as an FSC certifier.  The Green Press Initiative was formed to “advance sustainable patterns of production and consumption within the U.S. book and newspaper industries and within the paper industry at large.” The Forest Stewardship Council provides certification indicating that a book has been produced utilizing a fully FSC certified manufacturing chain (including the printer and the publisher) that is in keeping with the stringent FSC environmental standards for sustainability.  Both of our manufacturing partners, Friesens and Golden Cup, are FSC certified.

For recycled papers, many uncoated papers are both 100% recycled with post-consumer waste and are FSC certified. This is the most desirable combination for “green” paper stock. It continues to be difficult to source both 100% recycled and FSC certified coated papers. In this case, and in our experience, the FSC certification is considered more environmentally sound than any increase in recycled content that can be gained without the FSC certification.  New Leaf Paper Company http://www.newleafpaper.com is one paper company that provides coated FSC papers with some of the highest post-consumer waste content in the industry.