3M DITCHES FOREST CERTIFIER LICKETY-SPLIT
Take note: 3M products, including Post-It Notes, will no longer be made with questionably sourced trees. 3M announced last week that it’s ditching its paper certifier, putting its main supplier on notice and bringing in tough new sustainability policies.
Forest Ethics had been actively dogging 3M at board meetings and spearheading consumer petitions against the office supply company for a couple of years. But it was after Forest Ethics flew a banner over a major league baseball game in the company’s home town of Minneapolis last summer that 3M called the enviro group to arrange a truce.
On March 5, the former foes jointly announced that 3M has officially ditched the Sustainable Forestry Initiative label and put its paper supplier, Quebec’s Resolute Forest Products, “on notice” over its logging of caribou habitat and fractured relationship with First Nations.
The Post-It king has vowed to ensure that none of its wood fibre comes from threatened forests and that indigenous and local communities are granted free, prior and informed consent before logging occurs. 3M is also going to boost its use of recycled paper.
HERSHEY’S KISSES GMOs GOODBYE
Just days after Nestlé USA pledged to ditch artificial colours and flavours, Hershey’s announced it would be cleaning house, too. The chocolate maker is promising a transition to “simple ingredients” that are “easy to understand.” That means no more polyglycerol polyricinoleate (that’s an emulsifier, by the way), high-fructose corn syrup or genetically modified -sugar and soy lecithin.
A few key high-profile products, namely Hershey’s Kisses and Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, should be GMO-free by the end of 2015.
The company had, back in 2012, already committed to getting 100 per cent of its cocoa from certified sustainable sources by 2020. As of this year, 30 per cent of the company’s cocoa is certified.
Pressure has now shifted to Mars to dump the artificial dyes linked to hyper-activity from its North American confections. It ditched the blue #2 and other fake colours from British M&Ms back in 2012.
Campaigns to clean up junk food haven’t been limited to candy bars. Last month, Breyers caved to consumer pressure and announced it would start sourcing milk and cream that are free from genetically modified bovine growth hormones.
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