The (Un) Sustainability Project

I attended the UK launch of "The Sustainability Project" last night at the RSA.

It is a series of twelve books about the global environmental crises and our responsibilities to the future.

The books were published on virgin paper,
the blurb was published on virgin paper,
four of the speakers were flown in from Germany,
they served non-organic wine from South Africa,
the reception was in an air-conditioned room that could easily have been naturally ventilated, the projector remained on for entire event even though no overheads were being used by the speakers,
the reception was entirely lit by old-fashioned incandescent bulbs....... needless to say I did not buy any of the books.

During the Q&A session I asked if the books had been published on recycled paper and what the carbon footprint of the panel members was and how often did they eat meat.
The publishers stood up and stated that the books were on 100% FSC certified paper. I replied that this meant nothing as regards the recycled content and then the chair moved on without putting my question to the panel. It was the only unanswered question of the evening....

Recycled paper uses on average 40% less CO2 than virgin paper, even if it is certified as being from sustainable sources. Generally what this means in Europe is that the paper has come from the Scandinavian monoculture forests like it has done for decades and so is generally meaningless in terms of recycled content, unless the recycled content is itself included.

I admit I came home pretty despairing that if this was the type of pseudo eco-event being put on by the RSA, then what hope have we really got of changing in time. However, on a positve note the RSA Fellows that I met at the reception were equally disturbed by the failure of the panel to answer the question about their own carbon footprints and were very positive about the issues raised.

Eco-activator Action: When attending eco-conferences or presentations do ask the speakers about any issues you have with the eco-standards of the event and ask the speakers if relevant to the presentation, about what their own eco-performance or carbon footprint is.
Contact Haus Publishing and ask them why they did not publish the supposed sustainability books on recycled paper.
sustainability@hauspublishing.com