Over 650 Businesses pledge not to use Kimberly-Clark tissue products

(August 22, 2006) Greenpeace today announced that more than 650 businesses in North America and from around the world are refusing to use tissue products made with pulp from ancient forests by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The businesses, which were featured in an ad in the New York Times today, are calling on the company to use more recycled fiber and pulp from sustainable logging operations in its products including Kleenex brand facial tissue. The company has been implicated in the destruction of North America?s largest ancient forest, the Boreal, which is home to endangered species and essential in combatting global warming pollution.

?These businesses have taken a stand for the environment by refusing to financially support the destruction of ancient forests,? said Christy Ferguson, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace. ?Kimberly-Clark is losing current and potential customers because of their practice of wiping away ancient forests.?
Increasingly, consumers believe that they have a responsibility to use their purchasing power to effect positive environmental change. In a recent Leger Marketing consumer survey1, 86% of Canadians and 84% of Americans say that they would switch to tissue products made with recycled paper and even pay more if this meant that ancient forests were not harmed. Further, 71% of Canadian consumers and 66% of U.S. consumers say they are less likely to purchase from companies who cut down trees from ancient forests to make their tissue products. The Forest Friendly businesses reflect this growing consumer concern.
?In our business we use a lot of paper towels, napkins and other tissue products and we feel it is important that these products don’t cause the destruction of ancient forests like the Boreal,” said Kirsten Rosenberg co-owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery, featured in the ad as a Forest Friendly Business. “That is why we are not using any products made by Kimberly-Clark. We won’t support the destruction of ancient forests.”
Kimberly-Clark, the world?s largest manufacturer of tissue products, used over 3.1 million metric tonnes (3.4 million tons) of pulp from forests in 2005, an increase of over 23% from 2003. Much of this pulp comes from clearcut ancient forests including the great northern Boreal forest, the largest intact forest left in North America. Less than 19% of the fiber used for Kimberly-Clark?s North American tissue products comes from recycled sources.
Kimberly-Clark manufactures toilet paper, facial tissue, napkins, and towels for both the consumer and commercial sectors under various brand names including Kleenex, Kleenex Professional, Viva, Surpass, Scott and Cottonelle2.
To view the full list of Forest Friendly Businesses, please go to www.forestfriendly500.org
Note to editors:
1 – Leger Marketing Survey, April 2006. Contact Greenpeace for full survey results.
2 – Scott and Cotonnelle tissue products sold in Canada are manufactured by Scott Paper under license to Kimberly-Clark.
-30-
For more information contact :
B-roll, high resolution photos available.
Christy Ferguson, Greenpeace forest campaigner, 416-451-9354 (cell)
Delphine Grenon, Greenpeace communications, 514-212-5749 (cell)