Did Your Pencil Pass or Fail?
Oh, it's almost that time of the year again...BACK TO SCHOOL! Time to replenish your supply of Pee Chee folders, notebooks and the almighty #2 pencil. But does your pencil make the grade, environmentally speaking of course? More importantly, how good is it for California? It is possible to make a more responsible pencil choice...as if you didn't already have enough on your green plate.
I only mention this because recently ForestEthics released a report linking some of the world's largest pencil manufacturers the clearcutting of California's Sierra Nevada. ForestEthics, a non-profit organization charged brining down the powers that be destroying the Sierra Nevada, have accessed all your trusty old-school pencils based on their local environmental impact.
"How were the pencils graded?" you wonder. So glad you asked. The report card grades pencil makers on the amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content in their products, whether or not their products are made with lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and whether or not the companies purchase lumber from Sierra Pacific Industries, a company ForestEthics calls "notoriously tone-deaf to concerns about its environmental impacts." Yeee-ikes.
Here's how the grades shake down:
- ForestChoice: A
- Greenline Paper Company: A
- Green Apple: C
- Paper Mate: C
- Dixon/Ticonderoga: F
- USA Gold: F
"Parents don't want their children using pencils which degrade California's landscape, drinking water, or species, and the top companies on our report card show that there's a better way," says Josh Buswell-Charkow of ForestEthics. "Those big companies that earned 'F's, however, are like the students in the back of the class with pencils in their ears and their heads in the clouds while the rest of the class leaves them behind."
To check out the report card in its entirety complete with fun graphics and way more information, go HERE. To learn how you can help save the Sierra Nevada, check THIS out.
About this blog
Roxanne Kotzman is a Daily News Photo Department veteran of nine years. When she and longtime friend Stacy Long
discovered their love all of all things environmentally responsible, they launched Happy Monkey Planet and jumped head-first into the vibrant eco-community.
Wow, so much to learn! But initially the idea is a pretty simple one: Let's change the world through information, education and action.
Rox & Stacy are a lot like you: ecologically minded but sometimes just plain overwhelmed when charged with the task of making a far-reaching difference in the environment. They have jobs, families, homes, lives and pets.
But what if doing better was a simple as a light-bulb change, a reusable canvas grocery bag, recycling that soda can or a cold-water wash?
These eco-chicks just hope to have a little fun, learn a little more, share a lot of information and maybe make the planet a happier, greener, cleaner place.
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