The team at our Cedar Springs, Georgia, mill believes not only in being a good neighbor, but also a responsible environmental steward. In fact, the Wildlife Habitat Council recently certified the mill as a Wildlife at Work property, a distinction designed to recognize outstanding habitat management on industrial lands.
Wildlife at Work certifications aren’t easy to come by, but for Cedar Springs, the recognition is well-deserved. The employees working at the nearly 5,000-acre site go out of their way to minimize disruptions to wildlife living in the area. For example, the team has carefully relocated a dozen gopher tortoises over the years to ensure the animals are not harmed when a mill expansion or construction project occurs. Other species the team is working to increase include bluebirds, purple martins, bats, and insect pollinators, and it protects endangered mussels living in the Sawhatchee Creek, which runs through the property. The team is also planning to replant longleaf pine trees on 300 acres of the site, a move which will benefit a multitude of indigenous creatures, including the gopher tortoise.
Cedar Springs joins five other Georgia-Pacific facilities that have earned certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council over the years, including: Green Bay, Wisconsin; Big Island, Virginia; Monticello, Mississippi; New Augusta, Mississippi; and Rincon, Georgia.
The nation’s largest supermarket chain is ditching plastic bags across all its banners — but not all at once. The Kroger Co. on Wednesday announced it is phasing out single-use plastic bags and moving to reusable bags chainwide, with the transition expected to be completed by 2025. Kroger is undertaking the initiative in phases, and its Seattle-based QFC chain will be the company’s first retail division to phase out single-use plastic bags. The company expects QFC’s transition to be completed in 2019. The company noted that some estimates suggest that 100 billion single-use plastic bags are thrown away in the U.S. every year. Click Read More below for additional information.
Several years ago, GDUSA began to spotlight the good works of design firms active in “green” design. In the early days, the focus was well-meaning but narrow: how designers used and sourced specific products or services — good examples being recycled papers or vegetable inks — to reduce waste.
Then, over time, a more holistic notion of “sustainability” arose that encompassed papers, products and services, yes, but also took into account broader concerns such as energy and emissions, forest stewardship and conservation, third party certifications and sourcing, media alternatives and relative footprints, shipping and distribution, internal studio procedures — all now seen as integral factors in sustainable design.
Foresters in JDI’s Northern Maine woodlands say growing conditions this season were ideal for young mixed softwood plantations.
Josh Philbrook, a Forester with JDI Woodlands, explains that in general, trees grow very well in Northern Maine. “The trees are about 12 feet tall already, just after seven years. These trees have grown 36-40” in one year.”
Philbrook attributes exceptional tree growth to improvements in JDI nurseries. “The trees we’ve grown in our nurseries are selected best from trees in forests across the region and grow several times faster than the natural forest, allowing us to excel the cycle of sustainability, and produce more wood that sustains jobs at our mills,” said Philbrook.