“This is a pro-print message that helps consumers appreciate the renewable nature of paper from a new perspective,” says Steve Bearden, Chairman, PGAMA and President, Linemark Printing of Upper Marlboro, Maryland. “The realization that the wood-for-paper equation actually allows landowners to grow more trees, and to manage woodlands in a more sustainable manner, is contrary to popular thinking, but it’s an important realization. When these woodlands start to vanish, they take with them all of the ecological benefits we’re basically getting for free. We have to support the landowners to continue to get those benefits.”
“In a world bombarded by electronic images and media,” says Bearden, “many forget the value of print to our society. It contributes in economic, social and environmental ways that have not been clearly represented to the public. ‘Print Grows Trees’ concentrates on the environmental, because the misconception that if we stop using print we’ll save trees, has had a critical impact on not only the print industry, but also on the private landowners who are the keepers of America’s trees. We just want people to make their communications’ decisions based on facts.”
