Publishers develop new “sustainable” typefaces to save paper
Publisher HarperCollins and typesetting company 2K/Denmark have both developed new typefaces to reduce the pages needed for their books
Two Sides’ Global Anti-Greenwash Campaign has continued to fight anti-paper statements
Two Sides, a not-for-profit organisation, has announced it has removed over 1,075 misleading anti-paper statements since 2010, when its Global Anti-Greenwash Campaign began.
The organisation notes that with the pressures now placed on banks, telecom providers, utility companies, and the economy as a whole, many companies are encouraging customers to cut costs by switching to digital services.
The “Go Green” and “Save a Tree” type statements can be extremely damaging to the opinion of paper and print as an environmentally friendly material.
The recent 2023 Trend Tracker report from Two Sides revealed that 55% of European consumers believe that environmental arguments from companies to switch to digital communications are misleading and are simply about reducing costs.
Research in 2021 by Two Sides and Censuswide found that greenwashing in Europe threatens the loss of €337m (£291m) of value annually to the paper, print, and mailing industry.
Two Sides Europe managing director, Jonathan Tame, says: “Not only are these greenwash claims in breach of established environmental marketing rules, but they are hugely damaging to an industry which has a solid and continually improving environmental record.”
“Far from ‘saving trees’, a healthy market for forest products such as paper encourages the long-term growth of forests through sustainable forest management. Many of the organisations we engage are surprised to learn that European forests have actually been growing by 1,500 football pitches every day.”
Companies like Dunelm, British Gas, Intermarche, and American Express are just some of the companies that have removed unsubstantiated claims about paper.
Tame concludes: “We are grateful for the cooperation of the hundreds of organisations that have changed or eliminated greenwashing claims from their messaging, and we are also thankful for the many industry stakeholders and members of the public who send Two Sides examples of greenwash”.
Individuals can send instances of greenwash to greenwash@twosides.info in order to stop organisations continuing to make misleading claims.
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