The Bulgarian Forest Certification System, the latest member of the Balkan Regional System, has been submitted to PEFC for assessment. The public consultation, which is your chance to give your feedback on this revised system, will run from 28 May to 27 July 2024. The Council for Sustainable Forest Management and Certification in Bulgaria (CSFMCB) revised the country’s national forest certification system to ensure its forest management standard is up-to-date and continues to meet stakeholder demands and expectations. This national system also joins Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Slovenia under the Balkan Regional System.

A growing number of actual and proposed bans on single-use plastic products, such as grocery bags, straws and water bottles, are feeding a worldwide appetite for bioalternatives, such as reusable, refillable and/or recyclable products and packaging. As a result, we’re seeing renewed markets for existing paper-based products and new opportunities for innovation in plant-based biomaterials. Take a look at some of the latest global efforts to reduce our dependency on plastic: •Canada announced in June that it plans to ban single-use plastics starting in 2021. •Mexico City’s ban on plastic bags, utensils and other disposable plastics will go into effect next year. •New York, California and Hawaii, as well as several major U.S. cities, have banned plastic bags, joining 127 countries that have similar bans or regulations already in place. •Schools in the United Kingdom will eliminate all single-use plastics, including cling film, by 2022. •India, one of the world’s most populated countries, will ban all single-use plastics by 2022. •The European Parliament voted to ban single-use plastic cutlery, straws, stirrers, cotton buds, cups and more in a sweeping initiative that will include all European Union member states. Click Read More below for additional information.

As a co-op, we often ask our members, employees and broader community to support policies that enable everyone to enjoy time outside. In recent years, we’ve collectively supported the protection of 246 million acres of U.S. lands and waters; $45 million in federal funding for safe trails to bike and run; and more than $1 billion in funding for state parks. Today we are raising our collective voice in opposition to Washington Ballot Initiative 2117. If ratified by voters in a few weeks, I-2117 would strip billions of dollars in climate investments across our home state—draining programs that support air quality, transportation, wildlife habitats, wildfire prevention, recreation infrastructure, and the health of our public lands and waters.