ASHEVILLE,NC. - August 12, 2008 - A new website launched by an international coalition of NGOs brings together GoogleMaps technology, environmental risks and manufacturing data on pulp and paper mills to reveal their practices and rate their performance on social and environmental criteria. The website will be a tool for paper purchasers to find information easily on how a pulp mill is performing and identify social and environmental risks associated with those operations, no matter where they are in the world.

Pulpwatch.org provides transparency by assigning a Red, Yellow, or Green rating, in multiple categories for individual pulp mills. It rewards pulp mills which have adopted the cleanest technologies and embraced responsible fiber sourcing through credible forest certification by assigning a Green Light rating. It exposes pulp mills which have failed to adopt sustainable practices, or who are in conflict with local communities or workers by assigning a Red Light rating. The ratings are based on the widely supported conservation criteria laid down in the Common Vision for Transforming the Paper Industry and supported by information provided by local conservation organizations or other stakeholders based on credible evidence.(http://www.environmentalpaper.org/commonvision.html)

The website is part of an international effort by NGOs to transform the practices of an industry with one of the world's largest environmental footprints - the paper industry.The Environmental Paper Network, a coalition of over 100 leading NGO's worldwide, was a sponsor and consultant to PulpWatch.org. The service is powered by the BeBOLD Database, developed by the Borealis Centre for Environment and Trade Research.

"Knowing what's in your paper is critically important and this application of GoogleMaps is a powerful way to give paper purchasers the chance to make an informed, responsible choice," said Joshua Martin, Network Coordinator, Environmental Paper Network. (www.environmentalpaper.org)

"PulpWatch.org will drive change in an industry with a huge impact worldwide. We will continue to update data on the site, and provide greater details about mills and Endangered Forests. Borealis welcomes input from all stakeholders that will help the service be more complete, accurate and more useful as time goes," said Jim Ford, a Senior Researcher with the Borealis Centre for Environment and Trade Research.

Visit the website at http://www.PulpWatch.org

The EPN Steering Committee is: As You Sow, Borealis Centre, Conservatree, Co-Op America, Dogwood Alliance, ForestEthics, Green Press Initiative, Markets Initiative, National Wildlife Federation, National Resources Council of Maine, and Rainforest Action Network.

LEARN MORE
Watch a short video from EPN Member, INFORM, at http://www.secret-life.org/paper
Read EPN's State of the Paper Industry Report at http://www.environmentalpaper.org/stateofthepaperindustry

Environmental Paper Network

Environmental Paper Network

The Environmental Paper Network (EPN) accelerates environmental transformation in the pulp and paper industry in order to protect forests, climate, air, water and communities.

The EPN facilitates a powerful movement of independent organizations, strategically leveraging their collective expertise and resources, to initiate change and environmental improvement in the pulp and paper industry.

The EPN is led by a Steering Committee that includes: Canopy, Climate for Ideas, Conservatree, Dogwood Alliance, ForestEthics, Green America, Green Press initiative, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Council of Maine, and Rainforest Action Network.

Other organizations which are active participants and/or serve on EPN Working Groups include NRDC, WWF-US, Greenpeace (US and Canada), Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Product Policy Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, Responsible Purchasing Network, Catalog Choice, and more.

More from Environmental Paper Network