Submitted: The Two Sides Team June 5, 2014

As most of you know, over the past two years we have been working with several companies to remove or correct the use of misleading “green” claims used to promote electronic billing and e-statements.  Yes, those “go green – go paperless” or “save a tree” messages!  There are many reasons for doing this, as outlined in our fact sheets on this topic.

To date, progress has been good, with over 25 leading companies now having changed or committed to changing their environmental messaging so that print and paper are not misrepresented, and there are many more discussions underway.  For more see our dedicated web page.

THANK YOU to all the companies who have listened to our concerns, worked with us and taken action.  We agreed with most of these companies that we would not name them publicly.  However, Sprint was very open and transparent and agreed to an interview with us to discuss their approach to paper purchasing, environmental marketing and the role paper and print plays in their business.  This interview was recently published in PIWorld and WhatTheyThink.

From day one of our engagement with Sprint I was put in touch with their Paper Leadership Council, a team of senior people from sustainability, purchasing, marketing and communications.  Over the past year we have had several phone calls to discuss the concerns of Two Sides and the needs of Sprint, with many great discussions around the technical and marketing aspects related to print and paper products, always with the entire Paper Leadership Council.

What impressed me most about Sprint is the attention and importance placed on sustainability and environmental marketing.  They were committed to getting it right while balancing various environmental and business needs.  This was such a refreshing situation compared to many other cases we are dealing with where it is very challenging to get companies engaged.  

I believe this quote from Alan Anglyn, Director (IT Care & Billing Services Business Management at Sprint) captures our working relationship:

"One of the benefits of our relationship with Two Sides has been the opportunity to reflect on how we communicate our efforts.  This caused us to review Sprint’s messaging about electronic media across multiple touch points.  Having an organization like Two Sides representing members of the industry is positive for the on-going dialogue and engagement needed to further sustainability and improve the perception of industry’s environmental position. Including Two Sides in our stakeholder engagement process has helped ensure we’re having a well-rounded dialogue about sustainable paper with a variety of perspectives represented."

Phil Riebel
President, Two Sides North America, Inc.

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