Domtar is highlighting its commitment to the environment with a new series of green swatchbooks. “All Domtar text, cover and writing grades are part of the Domtar EarthChoice family of papers, the most extensive line of high-quality, socially and environmentally responsible papers,” says the paper company. “FSC-certified and internationally recognized by some of the most respected environmental organizations, Domtar EarthChoice is the responsible paper choice, ensuring users the integrity of chain of custody from forest to market.” Domtar, www.domtar.com

FiberMark has a new recycled paper option. Reprise Cover is made from 100-percent recycled fiber, including 30-percent post-consumer waste. It’s FSC certified, and comes in “a palette of nine nature-inspired colors.” Reprise cover comes in a standard cover weight and a 25-pt. heavy weight.

“It is well suited to decorating by foil stamp and silkscreen, and readily accepts die cutting, scoring and folding, with good hinge characteristics,” says FiberMark Product Marketing manager Phyllis Custer. “Reprise combines natural beauty with earth-friendly appeal for a range of design applications, including annual report and brochure covers, document and report covers, pocket portfolios, invitations and a range of marketing collateral.” FiberMark, www.fibermark.com

This year, xpedx was awarded both Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chainof- custody certifications. The company says it’s the first North American paper distributor to be certified by both certification bodies. “With our new dual, national chain-of-custody certification, U.S. printers can now be assured they have a dependable supply of certified papers to meet growing demand,” says Jeff Higgins, corporate director of Marketing Services. xpedx chain-of-custody certifications will apply to all of its U.S. retail stores and distribution centers and sales from its website.

“xpedx, North America’s largest distributor of printing papers, is a critical link that moves certified paper grades through the supply chain to printers,” according to Higgins. “xpedx has long been one of the largest providers of post-consumer waste content and recycled printing papers in North America and now offers the greatest variety of SFI- and FSC-certified papers in the U.S. We will continue to add new grades as they come to market.” xpedx, www.xpedx.com

For the past 136 years, French Paper Company has been working to lessen its impact on the world around us, starting with the creation of Parchtone—the first-ever animal- free parchment paper—in 1949. Sixteen years later, in 1965, French released one of the first recycled papers—Speckletone. That paper went on to gain great attention in the early ’80s during the recycled paper movement.

“Most importantly, 100 percent of French’s paper production since 1922 has been manufactured with hydroelectricity generated on-site at the French Mill on the bank of the St. Joe River, avoiding the use of fossil fuels and an estimated 700,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions,” says president Jerry French. “Also, unlike many of the big paper conglomerates, French does not buy secondhand ‘green power’ credits from power companies for good PR and environmental certifications. French actually sells surplus kilowatts back to the local power supplier.” French Paper Company, www.frenchpaper.com

A popular guide for choosing environmental papers is back: Mohawk Fine Papers is re-releasing Sense and Sustainability. The buyers guide still offers information on sustainable choices, explanations about what various environmental seals of approval mean and details on how to calculate your project’s environmental impact. It also now has updated information on Mohawk’s environmental papers. “The new Sense and Sustainability contains all the practical information you need to understand what responsible papermaking and sustainable energy is about, and how to make your own responsible paper specifications,” notes Laura Shore, senior vice president, Communications, Mohawk Fine Papers.

Mohawk’s earth-friendly initiatives don’t stop there. The paper house is also making its premium paper lines— Strathmore Writing, Strathmore Script, Beckett Expression and Beckett Concept—carbon neutral. And all of Mohawk’s papers are now manufactured with 100-percent windgenerated electricity. Mohawk Fine Papers, www.mohawkpaper.com

While M-real as a whole is advancing in its efforts to support sustainability, two of its consumer packaging products are specifically made with the environment in mind. Improvements to the Simpele mill in Finland, where Simcote and Simwhite are produced, mean both bear a higher yield advantage due to lightweighting—resulting in less packaging materials and waste. M-real also had new, more efficient dryers installed at its mill, resulting in less energy usage.

Last February, M-real announced it had joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). The group—a project of the not-for-profit institute GreenBlue—works within the industry to help companies pursue cradleto- cradle principles in packaging, and to help members find and share sustainability solutions. “The issues of sustainability affect us all, and we believe it’s vital for this industry to act as a whole, to reinforce the efforts of individual companies,” says Mike Clark, senior advisor in Mreal Consumer Packaging. “As members of the SPC, we’re now working alongside and sharing ideas with representatives of the whole packaging value chain, from raw material producers through packaging manufacturers to brand owners. There’s a real synergy here that will help us to transform the packaging industry.” M-real, www.m-real.com

Wausau Paper is thinking green. More than half of the paper company’s printing, writing and imaging papers are environmentally friendly—containing at least 30-percent recycled post-consumer fiber. Early this year, Wausau gained FSC certification on some of its more popular lines. Wausau director of Marketing Jeff Fox says, “The FSC certification of over 680 stocking items covers all of the company’s products within all eight of its popular Royal brands of premium Writing, Text and Cover items, as well as all items within the Astropaque premium opaque line, Astroparche parchment line, Creative Collection scrapbooking line and Professional Series fine business stationery brands. In order to pursue the certifications, Wausau Paper had to first take the initiative to pursue FSC certification for all four of its Printing & Writing segment facilities, which was achieved in the summer of 2006.”

Wausau’s Exact Eco 100 line is also an eco-friendly choice—boasting papers made entirely of recycled post-consumer fiber. “No trees are cut down to make Exact Eco 100 paper, which is as bright or brighter than nonrecycled paper,” Fox notes. “The most earthfriendly of all Wausau Paper’s lines, Exact Eco 100, is Green Seal and FSC certified.” Wausau Paper, www.wausaupaper.com

Sustainability is a hot topic for a lot of designers. With that in mind, Appleton Coated’s FSC-certified Utopia line is growing. A new product, Utopia Two Xtra Green (U2:XG) has been added, along with newly certified Utopia Premium—giving you six Utopia paper grades in multiple finishes to choose from. Utopia Premium is available in a range of text and cover weights, up to 150 lb. cover, and comes in silk, ivory silk and gloss finishes. U2:XG— part of the Utopia Two line—is manufactured with renewable energy and boasts 30-percent post-consumer recovered fiber, in addition to the FSC certification.

Environmentally conscious designers might also want to get their hands on Appleton’s new Green Means Go brochure. According to Phil Cavalier, VP of Marketing for Appleton Coated, the updated promotion “walks the reader through important topics, including an overview of sustainability, discussion of pulp certifications with an emphasis on FSC certification and recycled fiber options. New to the brochure is a section on how to create a sustainable marketing communications strategy and how to create credit lines for environmentally sensitive projects.” Green Means Go also explains a lot of the terms and icons used when talking about papers and the environment, and has a list of helpful green resources in the back. For a copy of Green Means Go, call 888.488.6742 or e-mailutopiagreen@appletoncoated.com. Appleton Coated, www.appletoncoated.com