Holiday Season Brings Consumers A Tide Of Catalogs

It’s that time of year again, when holiday decorations go up, familiar tunes fill the air, and catalogs crowd the mailbox. Citing the 17 billion catalogs mailed in the United States in 1998, 64 for every man, woman, and child, the Alliance for Environmental Innovation released a report today benchmarking the paper practices of leading catalog retailers. The report, Greener Catalogs: Improving Paper Practices in the Catalog Industry, finds that catalog companies are doing little to reduce the environmental impacts of their paper use, and offers them an action plan for improving their paper practices. Many of these actions will not increase costs and are based on current products and technologies.

“Better paper practices can make a real difference for the environment, by conserving energy and natural resources, and reducing air and water pollution and solid waste,” said Jackie Roberts, director of the Alliance. “In many other industries, paper users and their suppliers have come together to develop environmental innovations that also meet business needs. We think this can happen in the catalog industry as well, and the Alliance is ready to work with catalog companies to implement the action plan in our report.”

The report examines the practices of ten leading catalog retailers: Blair, Brylane, Coldwater Creek, Cornerstone Brands, Hanover Direct, Intimate Brands, J. Crew, L.L. Bean, Lands’ End, and Spiegel. Key opportunities for improvement include:

• Using recycled paper. Despite the wide availability, comparable performance, and competitive pricing of recycled paper in the current market, L.L. Bean was the only company that reported using any, and only in its order forms.
• Working with suppliers. Catalog companies don’t consistently leverage their power as large paper purchasers to promote cleaner manufacturing and better forest management.
• Reducing unwanted mailings. Only eight out of the forty-two titles included in the survey allow customers to specify how often they wish to receive catalogs; not one offers the option to substitute electronic promotions for paper catalogs.

“Study after study has shown that consumers care deeply about the environment, and that they expect companies to be part of the solution to environmental problems,” said Alliance project leader Victoria Mills. “By improving their paper practices, catalog companies can honor their customers’ expectations and reap the benefits of environmental leadership.”