Submitted: The Two Sides Team March 13, 2014

March 13, 2014

Two Sides collaborates with many Allied Organizations to further the understanding of why print and paper can be a versatile and sustainable communications medium.  These relationships greatly help extend the reach of our message.  Here are the Allied Organizations that have joined Two Sides in North America:

Below are a few examples of how some of these relationships have developed and evolved.

The National Paper Trade Association (NPTA) and its members were instrumental in supporting and funding Two Sides in the United States and ensuring a successful launch in January 2012.  Most NPTA member companies are now commercial members of Two Sides in North America.

The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) joined our Sustainability Committee in early 2012 and we began collaborating and sharing information to address misleading environmental claims being used to promote various electronic services such as e-billing over print and paper.  “False marketplace claims are damaging to our industry and now we have two paths with the same objective… to help companies take the right steps to correct unqualified environmental language that can be viewed as deceptive marketing” said Executive Director, Printing-Writing Papers for AF&PA, Mark Pitts.  To date, several companies have removed their claims as a result of efforts of Two Sides and AF&PA.

The Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA) has been a great supporter of Two Sides since day one.   “We believe that Two Sides offers many advantages as a partner to EMA,” said Maynard Benjamin, Executive Director of EMA.  “They are out there fighting against environmental claims that are not factually correct, they provide our members great data-based information and they engage policy makers and make them take notice.  Two Sides doesn’t need to lobby because they do such a great job educating.”

Affiliations with science-based groups helps Two Sides maintain high credibility in its messaging and address current sustainability topics.  For this reason, we invited Dovetail Partners, Inc. to join our sustainability committee and help guide our efforts.  Dovetail is a trusted source for environmental information and they specialize in providing authoritative information about the impacts and trade-offs of environmental decisions, including consumption choices, land use, and policy alternatives.   “Much of our messaging overlaps with Two Sides so it just makes sense for us to work together for the same cause,” says Dovetail Executive Director Kathryn Fernholz. “Two Sides is a very unique group because when they advocate for environmental change, they help us influence people’s thinking about sustainability based on fact and not fear.  They have a strong moral obligation to only share scientifically-based information and we trust them to report on what is accurate and current.”

Two Sides is a member of the Forest Legality Alliance, a global network dedicated to promoting the demand of forest products of legal origin, and to working with stakeholders along the supply chain to meet that demand.  We also collaborate with the World Resource Institute (WRI) who have peer-reviewed our Myths and Facts materials.

Nine U.S. colleges are now part of our network and Dr. Gary Scott from State University of New York – Environmental Science and Forestry was elected to our Sustainability Committee to represent the interests of the academic sector.

The following list gives a few more examples of the great support we have received from other allied organizations:

NPES, The Association of Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies – Seats on our board and committees and in-kind support related to marketing and visibility at the Graph Expo annual conference.

Print Services and Distribution Association (PSDA) – Donated ad space in Print Solutions magazine.

Printing Industry Association of Southern California – Development of an app to download our Myths and Facts brochure via mobile phone.

PrintMediaCentr – Ongoing promotion of Two Sides via social media channels and exposure to their huge network of professionals in the print world.

TAPPI – Marketing and communications support.

We believe that alliances like these help us fulfill our mission which is essential to all of us who use print and paper products every day, and the millions who work in the print and paper value chain.  Let us know if you want to join our growing team!

Phil Riebel
President, Two Sides North America, Inc.

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