ETHICS LOOS OUT AT GLASTONBURY
You might think going to the loo at Glastonbury is a bad enough experience as it is. But Michael Eavis, founder of the festival, has called on revellers to leave the loo roll at home as Nouvelle, the recycled toilet paper brand, is supplying free rolls to festival goers as Glastonbury’s Official Recycling Partner.
But Glastonbury greens would be shocked to learn how poorly Nouvelle scored in Ethical Consumer magazine’s new report on toilet tissue brands. Georgia Pacific, the brand’s owners, got a bottom rating from the UK Environment Agency for its environmental management – while another company in the group is far from green, as it’s also in the oil business.
Ruth Rosselson, author of the report, said: “It’s an unfortunate choice. Nouvelle gets a ‘worst rating’ for its environmental policy from Ethical Consumer, and came last in a recent World Wildlife Fund comparison of toilet tissue companies.
“Nouvelle may boast its 100% recycled credentials – but the company that owns it also makes toilet tissue from virgin forests and was the main US importer of wood from Indonesia. There’s plenty of greener choices than Nouvelle. Even the UK supermarket own-brands use only recycled fibres, or are certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council, showing they take environmental issues more seriously than Nouvelle’s owners. It just goes to show you’ve got to look beyond the brand.”
See full report on toilet paper.
Behind the brands...
Nouvelle is owned by Georgia Pacific which produced Lotus, Tenderly, Nouvelle, Delica, Inversoft and Nett for European markets. Georgia Pacific is in turn owned by private equity firm Koch Industries Inc, which also owns Flint Hills Resources, which was engaged in petroleum refining, crude oil supply and trading.
According to the August 2005 issue of ENDS Report, Georgia Pacific was on a list of companies which had been given an 'E' (bottom) rating by the Environment Agency for environmental management of its factory sites in the UK.
The World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) 2006 report 'Second Scoring of the Tissue Giants' assessed five tissue companies sustainability for European tissue production. WWF's six categories were: responsible sourcing of virgin wood fibres, recycling and fibre efficiency, clean production (energy use/ water use/ emissions to air/ emissions to water/ waste), actual improvement in recent months, ISO 14001/EMAS/ third party audit for all mills, and transparency European Tissue / clarity of information for evaluation. Georgia-Pacific scored 27% overall in six categories rating sustainability, which WWF claimed needed "substantial improvement." This was the worst score in the report, and did not improve on ratings from the year before at all. Every other company had improved their rating from the previous year.
“Down to Earth” reported in 2003 that Georgia Pacific had been called upon by Indonesian environmental NGO WALHI to stop importing wood from Indonesia. The article reported that Georgia Pacific was one of the main buyers of Indonesian timber in the USA. WALHI, AMAN and Rainforest Action Network were all demanding that Georgia Pacific stop purchasing Indonesian wood until the rights of indigenous people to their traditional lands were recognised and the Indonesian government agreed to prevent destructive logging. The U.S. was reported to be the second largest market for Indonesian plywood after Japan.
Ethical Consumer...
- is the UK's leading alternative consumer organization
- maintains one of the most comprehensive database of corporate ethics in the world - tracking over 30,000 companies, compiled over 20 years, updated daily by dedicated researchers
- employs a unique ethical scoring system - ethiscore - constantly informed by the leading edge of campaign groups
- is a not-for-profit worker's co-operative completely independent of corporate interests
Ethical Consumer's unique ethiscore system rates companies on their social, ethical and environmental performance. Companies are rated in over twenty categories across four main headings - Environment, Human rights, Animal rights, Politics. Products are then rated for their positive ethical and sustainability features.
|