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Natural Awakenings Fairfield & Southern Litchfield Counties

Bigelow Tea Recognized for Commitment to Responsible Paper

Environmental watchdog ForestEthics has announced that four major U.S. brands—Xerox, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Delta Dental and Fairfield’s Bigelow Tea—have expanded their commitment to support and promote responsible forestry by distancing their brands from the controversial Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper and wood certification and labeling.

The four companies join a list of 27 major U.S. brands that will avoid promoting SFI because, according to ForestEthics, the logging industry-run program misleads consumers and allows massive clearcuts, other destructive logging and human rights abuse.

“SFI is a serious liability to any brand that cares about its environmental reputation,” says Jim Ace, ForestEthics’ senior campaigner. “The logging and paper industry should realize that misleading consumers is a liability for them, too.”

The companies have each updated their policies on sustainability and sourcing. The following is Bigelow Tea’s new policy: “As part of Bigelow Tea’s strong commitment to environmental sustainability, Bigelow Tea will promote the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and will educate our vendors about Bigelow Tea’s purchasing preference for FSC-certified paper and fiber.”

For more information, visit ForestEthics.org/Sustainable-Forestry-Initiative.