Back in 2010, the activist group Rainforest Action Network sent a bunch of children’s books to a lab for analysis. The group learned that the paper in most books -- including those from The Walt Disney Co., which is the world’s largest publisher of children’s books and magazines, producing 50 million books and 30 million magazines a year -- contained tropical hardwood pulp, likely from Indonesia. Many kids books are made in China, and China gets much of its paper from Indonesia, where rainforests are threatened by logging, mining and agriculture.
Not long after, RAN launched a campaign against Disney, which included protests at the company’s corporate headquarters in Burbank. The campaign ended today with a big victory, in the form of a Disney paper buying policy that RAN’s executive director, Rebecca Tarbotton, describes as second to none.
“We’ve seen a tremendous commitment from Disney,” she told me, by phone, from RAN’s offices in San Francisco.
Here’s Disney’s announcement and here is a summary of the policy. It’s complicated, and far-reaching, and it will be rolled out in two phases -- with the first covering paper sourced directly by Disney or for use in Disney-branded products and packaging, and the second addressing paper sourced by independent licensees.
Among the key principles: Disney is promising to reduce its overall paper use. It will increase its use of recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. It will avoid paper that comes from “High Conservation Value Forests” as well as “High Carbon Value Forests,” recognizing the importance of forests not only to protect biodiversity but to absorb CO2 from the air.
Importantly, the company specifically highlights Indonesia as a hotspot, and says Disney has “taken and will take action to eliminate paper fiber from unwanted sources in this region.”
Photo of Mickey in sorcerer's hat provided by Paul Smith/Feature Flash via Shutterstock
Next page: What the new policy means
Nice article
Nice article
Worthy of the Mouse Thanks to
Worthy of the Mouse
Thanks to Disney for implementing such a progressive paper policy. I especially appreciate Disney's specification of recycled paper, which when done right takes far less energy, water and chemicals to make than paper from trees.
When companies such as Disney make dramatic changes to their business practices, it can have a huge effect, both on the supplier/vendor community and on rival companies who look to Disney as a bellwether for their category. I appreciate that Disney is taking a greener stance on paper sourcing. Along with Scholastic, which also has a very progressive paper policy, these two companies are certain to move the market for children's publishing.
Wow - a participation medal.
Wow - a participation medal. When we describe "not chopping down rainforests" and "not sourcing our paper from evil Asian paper conglomerates" as radical acts, we have probably already lost the war.
Conscientious corporate citizenship should be the expected default state for business; returns to this state should not be celebrated. If the headline was "Disney no longer employs pedophiles at their children's parks" we would not be patting them on the back. We'd be asking WTF took them so long.
Some individuals had the idea
Some individuals had the idea first, then joined within the NGO organization which took it to the giant corporation which then recognized the value of the idea. This is the perfect example of non-governmental accomplishments. We don't need to rely on governments held hostage by the fossil fuel producers to accomplish great things.
This is really great news. A
This is really great news. A corporation as large as Disney has a giant effect on the environment whatever they choose to do. I applaud them for this decision.