Saw this short post on John Battelle’s Searchblog about Google buying a Finnish paper mill and converting it into a data center. Now that is what I call going paperless!
Here is the Reuters article.
By April Smith, Catalog Choice managing director.
Like me, you’ve probably noticed a forest certification logo, recycling symbol, or sustainability statement on the back of more and more catalogs. As a growing number of catalog mailers examine the environmental implications of their catalog production and make greener choices, eco-labels on catalog covers become more commonplace. Here’s a sampling of labels and statements I’ve noticed recently:
The Fair Indigo catalog states “We take sustainability seriously. This catalog was printed in the USA with 30% post-consumer waste and paper certified for sustainability.” The catalog even lists the amount of natural resources saved as a result, although no specific forest certification program is mentioned. The back cover of the FLOR catalog sports the PEFC certification label and says “Printed on 100% recycled paper, 85% post-consumer waste.” The Vermont Country Store also prints on paper certified by SFI. The “FSC Mixed Sources” logo appears on a number of catalogs, including Heifer International, Title Nine, Sundance, and all the Williams-Sonoma brands. And countless catalogs sport the recycling logo with post-consumer recycled content ranging from unspecified amounts up to 85 percent.
Eco-labels for paper choices are powerful communication tools, conveying environmental information quickly and conveniently to the consumer and showing a commitment to environmental stewardship on the part of the catalog mailer. But what do all the logos really mean? If you are confused by these symbols and certification schemes, here’s a summary to help demystify the most common catalog eco-labels.
Let’s start with recycled content. We’ve all seen the ubiquitous arrow Mobius strip symbol. Some mailers print the recycling logo on the back of the catalog with the generic claim “printed on recycled paper.” This doesn’t tell you much except that the paper contains some recovered material. Recycled fiber can be “pre-consumer” or “post consumer” waste. Pre-consumer just means industrial trimmings and scraps that haven’t reached the consumer market. What you want to look for are post-consumer percentages, which indicate recovered waste that has completed its life as a consumer item and was destined for the landfill. The higher the post-consumer waste percentage, the better. But remember, a catalog mailer needs to balance paper quality, availability, and cost with environmental considerations. That’s why you’ll see a variety of recycling percentages and claims on catalogs.
There are a variety of forest certification programs which verify that practices meet recognized standards for responsible forest management. Certification helps balance the economic benefits of forest use and the ecological value of forest conservation. Three common certification logos you’ll see on the back of catalogs are those of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Programme for the Environment of Forest Certification (PEFC).
FSC certification is widely considered the most rigorous certification scheme. Strengths include the protection of ecologically important forests and the banning of the conversion of natural forests into plantations. Plantations, while necessary to meet global fiber needs, cannot replace older, diverse, natural forests nor can they sequester as much carbon dioxide as mature trees, which is important for climate stabilization. FSC maintains three label types based on the product’s content: FSC Pure, FSC Recycled, and FSC Mixed Sources. Of the three, the FSC Mixed Sources label makes the most frequent appearance on catalogs. FSC Mixed is a blend of FSC Pure, Recycled and/or Controlled Fiber. FSC Pure is 100% virgin fiber from an FSC certified forest. FSC Recycled certifies paper that contains a minimum of 85% post-consumer fiber. Controlled fiber refers to the remaining wood fiber (not Pure or Recycled) and is screened to exclude the worst forestry practices, such as illegal logging, the liquidation of high value forests, civil rights violations, and genetic modification of forest species. Papers that contain both post-consumer waste and are FSC-certified reduce virgin fiber use but also ensure that when needed, it comes from sustainably managed sources.
Largely in response to FSC, the country’s largest forest-industry trade association (AF&PA) formed SFI which has operated as a fully independent forest certification program since 2007. Critics claim that SFI lacks rigor with regard to some forest management issues. Unlike FSC standards, SFI certification allows the use of genetically modified trees and the conversion of natural forests to plantations, including forests deemed to have critical environmental or socio-economic value.
Launched in Europe, PEFC is technically not a certification scheme but an umbrella organization for national forest certification programs. PEFC provides assurance to wood and paper product purchasers that they are buying sustainably produced goods, irrespective of where they came from. PEFC prohibits the use of wood from some controversial sources, but allows the use of genetically modified trees and the conversion of forests to plantations. PEFC has endorsed the CSA (Canadian) and SFI certification schemes, so weaknesses inherent in these systems also apply to PEFC.
We hope this helps you understand the various labels you see on the back of a catalog.
January is only half way over and 22 new catalog titles have activated their secure account. As our team of merchant account managers work away, there is nothing more pleasing to see a new merchant’s name appear on the Cool Catalogs page.
The account set up process is so simple that most merchants step through the set up in minutes. This includes personalizing their mail preference page, defining a set of mail frequency options, uploading links to their electronic catalog and downloading the mail preference requests. Before your morning coffee gets cold, a new merchant can be well on the way to saving money and resources by helping their customers go paperless through Catalog Choice. If you are not already signed up, there is no time like the present. Contact us at Merchantservice@Catalogchoice.org and we will get you started.
We are pleased to have the following companies working with us to honor mail preference requests.
Mason Companies family of catalogs:
2008 was an amazing year for Catalog Choice. We started the year battling a widespread boycott of our service, encouraged by the Direct Marketing Association. We ended the year with almost 400 merchants under license, guaranteeing the suppression of over six million catalogs to almost 1.1 million households. To top it off, the DMA launched a service that mimics Catalog Choice in many ways – including the name (dmachoice.org).
In 2008, our first full year of operation, here is what we accomplished:
Over the year, we learned a tremendous amount about what is needed to make our mail preference service work for both consumers and merchants. We are translating this knowledge into exciting new features for the coming year.
We are grateful for the on-going support of so many of our members, both consumers and merchants – we could not have accomplished a fraction of this list without your participation and support. To all our consumer and merchant members, we wish you a happy and healthy new year.
Today we received this email from a Catalog Choice Member:
I joined Catalog Choice last year after being inundated year after year with un-asked for catalogs at the holiday time. I wanted to let you know that this year, I have received a FRACTION of the amount of catalogs that I normally get. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!
We receive numerous words of gratitude from our members. We really appreciate each one as it makes our job more rewarding.
We also receive our share of complaints. For those frustrated by the fact that you still receive too many unsolicited catalogs, we share your frustration and are doing everything in our power to get your requests honored. I know that the success rate is steadily improving. Thank you for your patience.
We are busy working on new features for 2009 that will improve the service for our members – consumers and merchants. Stay tuned.
Today we received the following email from John Schroeder, Business Intelligence Manager for Room & Board. He provides a clear description of how Catalog Choice benefits the merchant and the customer.
We love catalogchoice.org!
It is a perfect fit with our overall philosophy of sustainability and respecting our consumers wishes on how we engage them throughout the year. We recently had a customer who called our call center (shop from home) and requested that we stop sending our annual catalog for the next 3-years as she was taking an assignment in Europe. We had the perfect solution for her, Catalog Choice. This gave our customer total control not only for our catalog but potentially for other catalogs companies that she would of needed to contact. And the great thing is when she comes back to the U.S. she can opt back in to our annual catalog. She was thrilled. In 2008 we referenced catalogchoice.org on the back cover to allow our customers an easy and reliable way of opting out of our printed material distribution. In return we gained additional productivity in our call center where our Design Associates were more available to assist customers with orders over opting out for future mailings. This during our busiest time of year. We also monitor the comments customers give for opting out of our catalogs. We love the fact that over 50% have done so for environmental reasons. With our web site becoming a more frequently used tool it only makes sense that customers have the option of their preferred method of engagement with our company. Catalog Choice is one of the many ways we capture this.
Thank you Catalog Choice for your services!
We are dedicated to keeping our mail preference service free of charge. You did not pay to get on the list and you should not have to pay to get off the list. Occasionally, we receive donation offers via email to our customer service center. As a registered 501(c)3, through our sponsor The Ecology Center, we can accept tax-deductible donations.
Today we added a link to our menu that makes it easy to provide a secure, tax deductible donation to Catalog Choice. If you are so inclined, we welcome your donation to our effort to give consumers the ability to control their mail preferences, reduce unwanted catalogs and help preserve natural resources.
We are a small, dedicated and efficient organization working on your behalf to reduce unwanted mail and help you go paperless. Your support in the way of entering your preferences, telling your friends and contacting merchants has been instrumental in our efforts to date.
We appreciate your time and hope that you will find our service worthy of your financial support.
P.S. – Thanks to Richard from San Diego for making the first donation this afternoon!
B to B magazine recently published an interview with the new Postal Regulatory Vice Chairman Nancy Langely titled “Addressing direct-mail deliverability and anti-marketing initiatives“. At first, I was concerned that we were going to be labeled an anti-marketing initiative, but when I read Nancy’s comment about Catalog Choice, I was please that she described us as a solution that direct mailers should work with. The excerpt is below:
BtoB: One of the challenges to direct marketers is various consumer efforts to restrict marketing mailing. Some of it seems intended to give consumers more control over what they receive, but other initiatives seem almost anti-marketing. What is your view?
Langley: Catalog Choice is a service that helps recipients reduce the frequency of catalog mailings, or eliminate unsolicited ones. It lets direct mailers show their customers they’re acting responsibly by eliminating duplications, and that they’re also environmentally friendly with recycled paper.
Catalog Choice is about connecting consumers and companies to stop unwanted mail. Without willing partners on both sides of the conversation, we can not be successful. We continue to work with direct mailers help them mail smarter by eliminating unsolicited mailings. It is taking time, but mailers are warming to the concept of accepting mail preference requests from Catalog Choice. Our solution makes good business sense because it provides direct mailers with the tools to customize their mail preference choices and adheres to strict security standards. Companies can learn more about activating their free Catalog Choice account by visiting the Catalog Choice Merchant home page and contacting a Merchant Account manager.
While many of you are frustrated that the holiday catalogs you opted-out of last year are back, please recognize that changing the practices of a $68 billion dollar industry takes time. We are on the front line working with VP’s of Marketing and CEO’s of multi-channel merchants (web, catalog, brick and mortar). We are signing agreements with the country’s largest catalog mailers and hundreds of others that guarantees the following
We are the only company in the United States that has negotiated a do not mail agreement with companies on behalf of its members. It has taken hundreds of hours of meetings, legal review and negotiations to strike these agreements. Our license agreement sets the foundation for the success of our service for years to come.
So, when you get an unwanted catalog in the mail yet again – don’t shoot the messenger, join our movement and help us get all the companies to honor your requests. The business agreement is in place and the technology is in place. It just takes willingness on the part of the merchant to honor your request.
In the long-run, connecting companies and consumers to communicate mail preferences will stop unwanted catalogs. Thanks for your continued support.
The answer to this question is as complex as the network of systems and service providers that enable the direct mail process.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse provides information on many of the ways your name and address get on lists used to send direct mail. You can review their information on this topic here. The following is a brief summary.
If you have done any of the following recently, your name and address are likely on various name rental lists:
1. Participated in a supermarket loyalty club (except California, which prohibits supermarkets from selling such personally identifiable data to third parties (California Civil Code 1749.60).
2. Subscribed to a magazine.
3. Filled out a warranty or registration card.
4. Given money to a charity.
5. Entered sweepstakes.
6. Purchased products online or through a catalog.
7. Carried a mortgage on a home
8. Had a baby
Basically, if you are an active consumer in today’s economy, your name and address are on numerous direct mail lists. Some companies rent these lists when they send out catalogs in hope of gaining new customers. They don’t just mail their catalog to anybody. They use sophisticated analysis to identify prospective consumers whose purchasing patterns make them a good prospect for the company’s products. It is expensive to rent the list, analyze the data, produce and mail the catalog.
Some Catalog Choice members have complained on this blog and to our customer service team that they are receiving more catalogs since they started using our service. Let me describe why it is highly unlikely that your participation in our service is the cause of additional catalogs, what Catalog Choice is doing to protect your privacy and how we are working to reduce the volume of unsolicited mailings in the United States.
First and foremost, Catalog Choice does not rent or trade your name with anybody. This notion flies in the face of our mission, values, ethics, by-laws and business practices. If a customer service representative at a catalog company tells you that we rent and sell names (several have started this rumor), recognize that this employee is not properly informed and politely direct them to get their facts straight. You can refer them to the ACMA press release about Catalog Choice, the recent DMNews article titled Mail Crowd Rallies for Choice or our Merchant FAQ to get the straight scoop.
Second, merchants who are participating in the Catalog Choice merchant account program have signed a license agreement that prohibits them from renting, trading or sharing the names of Catalog Choice members with anybody. They can only use the personally identifiable information provided by Catalog Choice to fulfill the mail preference request entered at our site.
Third, it has been surmised by some that merchants are trading the names of Catalog Choice members with others so that consumers will become discouraged with our service. While anything is possible, we believe that it is highly unlikely that a given merchant would spend thousands of dollars to mail catalogs to consumers who have taken the time opt-out on our site. Why would the mailer risk their brand value and financial resources on this? They want to mail people who will buy their products. Just to make sure that this practice does not occur, we will be instituting a list seeding program. Through list seeding, we will include specific names in each merchant’s list that if mailed will provide clear evidence of the mailer’s violation of our confidentiality agreement.
Fourth, we never release your email address. When you make an opt-out request with a most merchants not participating in our service, send the request via email on your behalf by using a unique catalogchoice.org email address that we create for each member-catalog title. We are not willing to trade a well managed physical mailbox for an email inbox clutter with unwanted email.
I hope this post helps our members understand the source of new catalogs you may be receiving during the holiday season and the steps we are taking to build a secure, scalable mail preference service. So, this holiday season, if you get a new catalog and you don’t want it in the future, add it to My Choices and we will work tirelessly to get your preference honored. If you get a catalog that has products you like and you enjoy receiving it, then keep that one coming. The choice is yours.
If you want to suppress your name from most name rental lists, the best bet at this time is to register your name on the Direct Marketing Association’s Do Not Rent list. DMA members are suppose to honor this list and not mail catalogs to prospects on this list. You can register for this list at http://dmachoice.org. Once you register for this service, go to Other Mail Offers under the Manage My Mail menu on the left hand side of the site.
As always, thanks to all the members who dedicate their valuable time entering your mail preference requests at Catalog Choice. Without your time and effort, we would not have made such significant progress working with the direct mail industry to reduce unwanted mail over the past year. With your continued support, we are dedicated to have the best title-specific mail preference service in the country – a service that allows you to choose the mail you no longer wish to receive, reduce the frequency of other titles and go paperless with any merchant.
This holiday season, join thousands of other Catalog Choice members by showing your support for the merchants that are leading the way by honoring your Catalog Choice request. Over 340 catalog titles are participating in our program and new ones are added every day. Start your holiday shopping with these merchants by visiting the Cool Catalogs page.
