- Kleercut
Kleercut is the name of an active campaign conducted by
Greenpeace , theNatural Resources Defense Council , and others towardsKimberly-Clark . Kimberly-Clark is the world’s largest manufacturer of tissue products, most notably theKleenex brand. According to its annual environmental report, the company purchases over 3.1 million metric tonnes (3.4 million tons) of virgin fiber from logging companies annually. The Kleercut campaign claims that this fiber is derived fromwood pulp fromold growth forest s. Kimberly-Clark claims that the forests in question are largely cut for timber. The Kleercut campaign claims that Kimberly-Clark support theclearcutting of such forests inCanada and theUnited States , including forests habitat forwolverine and threatened wildlife the woodland caribou. Kimberly-Clark has responded that many of its supplies are certified by theSustainable Forestry Initiative or the Canadian Standards AssociationDetailed campaign goals
The campaign is asking Kimberly-Clark to:
* Stop using
wood fiber from endangered forests such as theBoreal forest .
* Stop producing tissue products using onlyvirgin wood fibers and instead increase the use ofpost-consumer recycled fiber in all of its products.
* UtilizeForest Stewardship Council (FSC) eco-certified forestry operations for what virgin wood fibers it does use.Online Kleercut campaign
The online Kleercut campaign utilizes the
open-source Content Management System ,Drupal . The Kleercut campaign is centered around a philosophy that an effective and engaged grassroots is needed for a successful campaign. According to Greenpeace the Kleercut campaign is "one of the more successful online forest campaigns in recent Canadian history." Greenpeace claims "1000 new sign-ups each month." [http://kleercut.net/en/open-source-campaigning]Forest Certification
One of the main demands to Kimberly-Clark and other large customers of Canadian logging companies operating in ancient forests is to turn to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a performance based forest certification program supported by local communities, environmental organizations, aboriginal groups, and industry. Kimberly-Clark currently sources the majority of its pulp (near 3 million tons) from Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) certified logging operations.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification has been criticized as well. While the most common criticism is that FSC is overly political, for example in Australia's forest Minister Abetz said "a limiting feature of the FSC is the involvement of environmental organisations, particularly WWF and Greenpeace. WWF and Greenpeace formed the FSC in 1994 as a vehicle to further their political objectives and to take control of forest management and its regulation away from Governments." [http://www.nafi.com.au/media/view.php3?id=442] . It has also been pointed out that: "The largest certified clearcut in the world is on an FSC certified forest in Ontario." [http://www.healthybuilding.net/news/060427sfi-fsc.html] One organization critical of FSC is Greenwood Earth Alliance who point that FSC certified forest "cover large industrial-scale operations involving massive clearcutting and even-aged management" and that at least one FSC certified company operating in Canada "engage in clearcutting, high-grading, even-aged management, overlogging, and very large scale destruction of habitat through industrial logging." [http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2006/11/08/A_Critique_of_the_Tembec_Certifications__FSC_s_largest_certified_company] =
ources
[http://www.grist.org/comments/interactivist/2006/04/24/metafore/index1.html Grist article}]
External links
* [http://www.kleercut.net Kleercut campaign website]
* [http://lists.kleercut.net/lists/lists Kleercut Groups]
* [http://kleercut.net/en/node/331 Photo Gallery of Kimberly-Clark forest destruction]
* [http://www.metafore.org/index.php?p=Forest+Certification+Resource+Center&s=147 Metafore Forest Certification]
* [http://www.kimberly-clark.com/aboutus/ForestryFactSheet.pdf Kimberly-Clark response (PDF)]
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