Norm Thompson - Catalogs

Improved catalog paper practices

Norm Thompson Outfitters switched their catalogs to recycled paper, saving money and resources without losing quality.

Project Coordinator

Victoria Mills, Environmental Defense
partnerships@edf.org

Press Contact

Melanie Janin - email
(202) 572-3240 (office)
(202) 321-5095 (cell)

Materials

• Paper Supplier Evaluation Form [PDF]
• Q&A on the Environmental Benefits of Recycled Paper [PDF]
• Does Your Catalog Care? [PDF] - How does your catalog rank in terms of recycled content?

Links

• How you can cut catolog waste
• Corporate Partnerships director Gwen Ruta discusses our catalog work
  
• Paper Task Force report - Findings from the field on how to reduce corporate paper consumption

Norm Thompson Outfitters — retailer of apparel, gifts and home items through its catalogs, stores and web site — partnered with Environmental Defense to prove that recycled paper is widely available and competitively priced, and performs as well as virgin paper.

The company now uses paper with a minimum of 10 percent postconsumer recycled content in all of its catalogs. "By using recycled paper, we can reduce our burden on the environment without harming profitability," said Rebecca L. Jewett, president of Norm Thompson Outfitters.

There's plenty of room for improvement in the catalog industry. American catalog companies sent out nearly 17 billion catalogs in 2001, or 59 for every man, woman and child. To produce these catalogs, the industry used 3.6 million tons of paper, which is about 15 percent of all printing and writing paper produced in the United States.

Manufacturing and disposing of that much paper generates significant levels of pollution, waste and greenhouse gases. Our 1999 survey, Greener Catalogs, found that the catalog industry used virtually no recycled paper. "We felt this was unacceptable," said Gwen Ruta, head of Corporate Partnerships at Environmental Defense.

The Challenge

The use of paper in businesses and industry around the globe presents enormous potential savings for the environment.

• Paper production is the third most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries in the U.S., according to Department of Energy statistics, and uses 11.5% of all energy in the industrial sector. 
• One third of all wood harvested in the U.S. is used for paper products.
• Despite advances in the electronic age, paper use is on the rise — about one third of waste sent to municipal landfills is paper and packaging.

Goals

• Significantly reduce energy and resource use, solid waste and pollution.
• Achieve these benefits without compromising performance or adding to costs.
• Drive positive change throughout the catalog industry.

Results

• Switched all catalogs to paper with a minimum of 10% postconsumer recycled content. This change led to an estimated annual savings of:
  • 20 billion BTUs of energy,
  • 2,000 tons of greenhouse gases,
  • 11.7 million gallons of wastewater,
  • 4,400 tons of wood,
  • 990 tons of solid waste.
• Reduced paper use, earning the company $100,000 in the first year through cost savings and increased customer response.

Recycled paper: No loss in quality

In the past decade, the quality of recycled paper has vastly improved, while price premiums have narrowed or disappeared.

During a year of research and testing with Norm Thompson Outfitters, we found that recycled catalog paper:

• is widely available at competitive prices,
• prints just as well as virgin stock and
• has no impact on customer response.

"We see no reason why recycled paper cannot become the industry standard for catalog paper, starting with 10 percent postconsumer recycled content and moving to higher levels over time," said Environmental Defense project manager Victoria Mills.

This project was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Educational Foundation of America, and members and benefactors of Environmental Defense.

Posted: 20-Jul-2007; Updated: 14-Sep-2009