An environmental group
that has a growing beef with 3M about its sustainability practices
picked the All-Star Game on Tuesday to lodge its latest grievance
against the company.
California-based ForestEthics hired an
aviation firm to fly an airplane over Target Field and downtown
Minneapolis with a banner that read “3M do the right thing for forests”
as part of a protest against 3M’s supply relationships with companies
that allegedly harm forests.
ForestEthics spokesman Jim Ace told
the Star Tribune that 3M buys its paper pulp and other paper products
from logging companies that strip forests in the United States, Canada,
Brazil and Indonesia. The group also complained that 3M uses the
Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) certification, which Ace said is
weak because it is backed by a logging association made up of companies
that hurt forests.
“What we want 3M to do is to adopt policies
that make sure that its supply chain is free of products from endangered
or controversial forests,” Ace said.
ForestEthics has asked
Maplewood-based 3M to stop using the SFI certification and to revamp its
paper purchasing policies. The two groups used to work together until
talks broke off late last year.
3M spokeswoman Sarah Williams said she sees the two entities collaborating again.
“We
absolutely do support forestry certification, but we also have a
fundamental difference of opinion from ForestEthics,” Williams said.
“They believe in one certification and we, like others, believe that
there are other certifications that are equally as valid. We use
several.”
ForestEthics flew the banner over Target Field between
3:30 and 5:30 Tuesday afternoon. FAA regulations required the plane to
be at least three miles away by 6 p.m., so it was not clear how many
baseball fans saw the banner.
Despite ForestEthics’ protest,
Williams said she expects the two groups to work together again.
“Business has a responsibility to operate in a sustainable manner and
that includes responsible forestry. And I know that is a deep interest
of ForestEthics.”
It’s the latest high-profile finger-wag from
ForestEthics, a group that recently held protests in front of 3M’s
annual meeting in Texas in costume to protest 3M’s paper sourcing
choices for the Post-it notes and sandpaper it makes.
Source Article: http://www.startribune.com
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