We’re kicking off Earth Week 2019 on April 22, which is International Earth Day. While we incorporate sustainability into all parts of our business every day, we are excited to have a whole week dedicated to enhancing nature’s gifts and improving life in our communities.
Colleagues and, at many sites, their family members and friends will raise sustainability awareness through volunteering, learning and playing in the world around us.
EarthChoice Ambassadors
As part of our caring values, we regularly give to educational initiatives, sustainability programs and efforts to improve the health and wellness of our neighbors. Our EarthChoice Ambassador program further reinforces this concept.
EarthChoice Ambassadors (ECAs) are Domtar employees who volunteer their time and energy to promote sustainable practices that focus on our customers, employees, company, and community. By identifying and sharing innovative manufacturing methods, educating and encouraging sustainable habits, and leading by example, ECAs embody our sustainability message throughout the organization.
Heather Stowe, Domtar’s corporate social responsibility manager and mother of the ECA program, describes the program simply: “All EarthChoice Ambassadors across the company are just that: ambassadors of making and teaching good earth choices. An EarthChoice is any act that benefits the planet or your community.”
Earth Week 2019
This year, during Earth Week 2019, more than two dozen ECA teams in North America and Europe are getting together to make hundreds of EarthChoices at work or at home. Events planned for Earth Week 2019 include:
Planting trees and gardening in community gardens and parks
Holding recycling drives
Hosting lunch-and-learn events focused on debunking agriculture and recycling myths
Providing families in need with resources to grow vegetables at home
Teaching students about papermaking and recycling
Creating a monarch butterfly habitat
Conducting reading events at schools in coordination with First Book
How will you celebrate Earth Week 2019? Will you be collecting rainwater, planting trees or participating in a community clean-up event? Share your EarthChoice by tweeting us at DomtarEveryday.
Learn more about our commitment to sustainability in the communities where we work, live and play:
SCA’s positive trend with increasingly less damage to ancient and cultural remains has continued. The target is zero damage to remains during site preparation and final harvesting operations. “We are moving steadily towards our zero-damage target,” says Anna Cabrajic, forest ecologist at SCA. In 2016, SCA launched an action plan with the goal that no known or registered archaeological or cultural remains would be damaged by forestry operations. The most serious damage is caused by driving over remains during soil scarification and final harvesting operations. In 2018, the total rate of damage was 10.7%, of which 4.8% was caused by site preparation operations. In 2017, the corresponding figures were 23% and 10%, respectively. Click Read More below for additional detail.
On 11 November 2015 in Helsinki, Finland, the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Board of Directors approved the Requirements for Sourcing FSC Controlled Wood (FSC-STD-40-005 V3-0). The standard has now been published on the FSC International website, and it is planned that it will enter into force on 1 July 2016.
The approved standard – which can be downloaded here – outlines the requirements for organizations with an FSC chain of custody certificate to implement a due diligence system to avoid material from unacceptable sources which cannot be used in FSC Mix products. Unacceptable sources are the five categories of controlled wood, which are defined in the standard.
The majority of consumers include sustainability among the most important factors when determining their spending habits, according to new data released by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas from the 2019 Paper & Packaging Consumer Trends Report. The report finds that environmental sustainability is a driving factor for 53% of Americans when making any type of product purchase decision. Three in five adults (61%) would be willing to pay more for food products packaged in sustainable materials, with 35% saying they would be open to paying up to 10% more. Consumers also note the importance of sustainability when making purchasing decisions for retail goods (48%), office goods (47%) and luxury goods (44%).
