GREEN IS THE NEW PINK.
More than 19 billion catalogues are shipped yearly, the bulk during the holiday shopping season, and retailers such as Victoria’s Secret and Williams-Sonoma are adopting eco-friendly alternatives for their mass-mailing businesses.
After two years of lobbying from environmentalist group ForestEthics, Victoria’s Secret, which launched its Pink line over a year ago, has agreed to use more recycled paper, reduce direct mail and conduct more efficient target mailings of other materials sent to customers, said Anthony Hebron, vice president of external communications at parent Limited Brands.
ForestEthics began its campaign to transform the catalogue industry in 2004, setting its sights on Victoria’s Secret, which, on average, mails 395 million catalogues a year.
“The impact is huge,” said Dan Howells, paper campaign director at ForestEthics.
To reduce the impact on wildlife, the specialty retailer has promised to stop using paper from endangered forests and increase its use of recycled paper. The retailer will abide by Forest Stewarship Council standards, and cut down its overall use of paper.
Limited Brands has made a commitment to raise awareness on the issue and advocate change in the catalogue industry.
“This is the first stop in a long journey of ensuring the catalogues and paper used are of good environmental quality,” Howells said.
Recently, Williams-Sonoma, which also mails out Pottery Barn catalogues, said 95 percent of the paper it uses would be FSC certified.
Computer giant Dell pushed through a new paper policy, and is already beating its recycling goals.
ForestEthics is now looking to other large-volume catalogue distributors, such as L.L. Bean, J.C. Penney, Sears and Eddie Bauer, to follow in the footsteps of Victoria’s Secret.
“If someone like Victoria’s Secret can make a change, there is no excuse for anyone else,” Howells said. “We are hoping the changes Victoria’s Secret is making will shift the momentum of the whole catalogue industry.”