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:
International Paper is continuing work on its commitment to sustain forests through two new collaborations with the Arbor Day Foundation: the Time for Trees initiative and Community Tree Recovery. As one of 17 founding members of the Arbor Day Foundation's Evergreen Alliance, International Paper is championing the Time for Trees initiative, a commitment to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities worldwide by 2022. The initiative leverages trees as a simple, natural climate solution, improves community resilience and helps preserve clean air and water, healthy food and a livable climate. International Paper has also committed to planting 46,000 trees through the Arbor Day Foundation's Community Tree Recovery program – a public and private partnership aimed at distributing free trees to residents in communities affected by natural disaster. International Paper's support of this program also promotes community resilience, a focus of their community engagement strategy. Click Read More bellow for additional information.
“Paper-based packaging made from recycled fibers is a key part of the circular economy and exemplifies why paper has a great environmental story to tell. As a leading technical association in this sector, we welcome RPTA to the Two Sides network of companies,” said Phil Riebel, Two Sides North America President. “RPTA is pleased to join Two Sides North America, as we are committed to similar objectives,” says Paul Schutes, Executive Director, RPTA. “Both organizations promote the responsible, sustainable production and use of our members’ products.”
Two Sides’ efforts to combat misleading claims related to print and paper has resulted in over 400 companies worldwide, including 118 in North America, removing unsubstantiated ‘green’ claims in their marketing materials. Despite our repeated efforts to contact TIAA and BlackRock, they continue to ignore consumer preferences and fact-based research to make unsupported environmental claims in their literature and mailings. Common consumer misconceptions about print and paper are reinforced by service providers as they increasingly encourage their customers to switch to electronic bills, statements, and correspondence to reduce costs. The incentive to switch is often based on unfounded environmental claims such as ‘Go Green – Go Paperless’ and ‘Choose e-billing and help save a tree.’ Not only are these claims misleading, but the drive to digital is not without environmental impacts and not welcomed by many consumers. Click "read more" below for additional information.
