As a paper-loving company, we want to take care of our beloved forests and the environment they thrive in, this is where the FSC comes in, but what do they do for the environment?
What is the FSC?
The FSC, A.K.A - Forest Stewardship Council, was set up in 1993, although based in Bonn, Germany, they have many offices around the world.
FSC aims to set standards for sustainable and reasonable forest management. Their purpose is to preserve the forests and the environment around them, which helps river systems stay clean, prevents erosion and protects wildlife that uses the forest as their home.
They are a non-profit global organisation that audits forests all over the world to ensure they are maintained at the highest standard, some of these standards include:
- Zero deforestation
Trees are harvested responsibly so there is no net loss of forest over time. Forests with irreplaceable values, such as old-growth forests, are identified and maintained. Reversing deforestation and maintaining irreplaceable forests are crucial to fighting climate change. - Fair wage and work environment
All workers are provided with proper training, adequate safety protocols, and fair wages. - Biodiversity preservation
Plant and animal species are protected. So trees need to be harvested in a way to maintain, preserve and protect the natural wildlife. - Community rights
Local communities living in and around forest areas are consulted, and their legal and cultural rights to land and forest resources are respected.
Interesting Forest Facts:
- An average America uses 6 trees worth of paper per year
- Today 550 million acres of forest are certified under the FSC label
- Forests cover 30% of global land area
- 70% of terrestrial animals and plants live in forests
- Currently the world’s forests store 283 billion tons of carbon in their biomass
These facts highlight some of the reasons we need to protect our forests, not only to protect the environment and wildlife but for our way of life in the future.
The FSC logos
The logo is the well-known tree with a tick, different labels can be used to represent the process and where the wood has come from.
FSC Recycled – The product is made from 100 per cent recycled materials. Using recycled material makes the most of precious forest resources and reduces the pressure to harvest more trees.
FSC Mix – The product is made with a mixture of materials from FSC-certified forests, recycled materials, and/or FSC-controlled wood. While controlled wood doesn’t come from FSC-certified forests, it mitigates the risk of the material originating from unacceptable sources.
How do the FSC protect forests?
To protect these forests for future generations they incentivise companies that require trees for their products by allowing them to display the FSC logo, showing they have sourced their materials from a sustainable source to help consumers make better purchasing decisions.
Checking if a paper or wood-based product has the FSC label means you can rest assured the trees cut down to produce your notebook have come from a responsibly managed source.
This short video from the WWF is a good explanation of why the FSC label matters:
What can you do to help protect the forests?
A simple way to protect the forests is to check the label, if it displays to FSC logo then you know it is from a responsibly managed forest.
To be able to label a product as FSC certified a company must have an FSC chain of custody certification, this shows the product has been checked at every stage from cutting down the tree to being put on the shelf for you to buy.
Nu: Notebooks carry the FSC label to show this, our nu: Evolve range is specifically made to be a more environmentally friendly notebook.
If you would like to know more about FSC and their great work, check out their website.