Forests For All Forever
Originally posted on The Huffington Post
Household consumption drives 60 percent of economic activity globally. Yet too often, our consumption is synonymous with environmental and social degradation.
What if consumer purchases could create positive impacts for people and the planet? That would seem revolutionary. In fact, just such an endeavor exists today to protect forests, one of the most precious and vital ecosystems on earth, which support the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people around the world and 80 percent of terrestrial biodiversity.
From tissue and paper, to packaging, furniture and building materials, people consume and depend on forest products every day. While traditional, industrial forestry can destroy forests, there's a movement well underway to balance our immediate and long-term consumption needs while safeguarding forests, wildlife and forest-dependent communities. Known as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the approach uses market forces tied to sustainable consumption to ensure forests are protected for the long term, even as they provide wood and fiber for products we use every day.
Take Kimberly-Clark, for example. With products like Kleenex, Scott Tissues and Huggies, the company is one of the largest buyers of forest products in the world. Nearly one in four people globally purchase one of their products every day. With this reach comes a strong sense of corporate responsibility to do the right thing, including a deep commitment to FSC. In fact, every Kimberly-Clark tissue product in North America -- along with many others around the world -- is now FSC certified. This one company has had an enormous impact, by creating demand for responsibly managed forests and by raising expectations for their entire industry.
