Wheat Straw Step Forward Paper Greener Than FSC Certified Paper. Thanks Woody Harrelson!
Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 10:34AM Step Forward Paper™ is a new type of paper made most from wheat straw (actually 80 percent to be exact) with the remaining 20 per cent is made of Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified wood fibre. They just got their biggest client. Staples in Canada!! That was easy!! Don’t worry USA, they are coming in 2013 stateside!
“Straw-based copy paper is a great example of an innovative product that uses a by-product from one industry and transforms it into a solution for others,” said James Tansey, CEO and founder of Offsetters. “Offsetters is pleased to recommend Step Forward Paper™ as a sustainable choice for businesses and consumers looking to reduce the environmental impacts associated with paper use.”
Environmental Perspective
Canada’s boreal forest is home to eight of the ten largest intact forest ecosystems left in the world. The boreal forest contains an interconnected ecosystem of plants, animals, insects and microorganisms that interact with the physical environment of soil, water and air. This essential global resource plays a significant role in mitigating climate change by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. 
Step Forward Step One Wheat Straw
Fifty per cent of the harvested Canadian boreal forest is currently used to produce paper products. “A key solution to protecting our world’s species and climate is finding fibre that doesn’t come from our last remaining ancient and endangered forests,” said Amanda Carr, Campaign Director with environmental not-for-profit Canopy. The organization has worked collaboratively with over 700 publishers and printers for over a decade to build a market for tree-free papers, and was consulted on the study. “With this research we can assure the companies we work with that wheat straw paper offers clear environmental benefits,” said Carr.
“It’s always been a big concern of mine that paper comes from forests,” said Woody Harrelson, a co-founder and investor in Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc. The two-time Academy Award nominee and long-time environmental advocate who received an honorary doctorate from York University for his environmental work said, “Step Forward Paper™ is a real plus for the forest and it’s a real plus for the farmers, and it’s going to be great for our future.”
Step Two Stepping Forward..To the Paper Machines..Hey what about our old paper mills??“We are excited that this study provides consumers with objective measures of the relative positive and negative impact of different papers on the environment,” said Jeff Golfman, President of Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc, which designs and produces the paper. “Our goal is to establish a market that will support our plans to build a new state-of-the-art facility in the Canadian prairies in Manitoba, which will in turn enable us to produce straw copy paper with an even smaller footprint,” said Golfman. 
Step Three Step Forward Sell The Paper!!!
Study
Recently Step Forward did an environmental carbon impact study on their paper and OF Course their paper is greener and more environmentally safe than 100 percent FSC certified paper. Next story on the report coming.
Stay tuned!!
Sources: Offsetters is Canada’s leading carbon management solutions provider, based in Vancouver, BC. www.offsetters.ca.
Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc www.stepforwardpaper.com.
About Canopy www.canopyplanet.org
[1]Non-renewable energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, wastewater, aquatic acidification, aquatic eutrophication, terrestrial acidification, and land occupation.
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