
Well, well, Canopy now supports the use of virgin fibre
Vancouver-based environmental group Canopy launched a smear campaign against paper packaging some five years ago, claiming that it endangered so-called “ancient” forests; caused deforestation; was wasteful and not “circular” enough: and that “better” alternatives...

The sad story of wrapping paper and the 100,000 elephants: how the media got it all wrong (and still does)
This is a story about sloppy journalism, about quoting from a ‘study’ that never existed, and falsely using data that’s now 22 years old. It’s a case study in how not to do journalism. The story begins in 2019 when Global News and others[i] spread word far and wide...

Canopy sucks in brand owners and media with false and misleading claims about paper packaging. Shouldn’t environmental groups be held accountable for greenwash too?
“Greenwash” is a popular word these days. Companies and even whole industries are constantly in the news for making false or misleading claims about their products or services. And government promises and actions on environmental issues are now being scrutinised like...

Let’s get some facts straight on paper bags
This is not another paper versus plastic bag story (there are enough of those already). Nor is it about favouring reusable bags over single-use ones. It’s a story about facts and misinformation, and it relates specifically to the Ontario provincial government recently...

Reuters report on Canadian forestry leaves a trail of misleading impressions
A recent Reuters’ “special report” on Canadian forestry opens with the assertion that timber firms “are harvesting large swaths of Canada’s older forests, which are critical to containing global warming.” But is the first part true? Since no...

UN Biodiversity fails to explain why it chose design student’s info over more current and credible forest data from the UN
The United Nations Biodiversity office in Montreal has responded quickly to a blog I wrote accusing it of spreading lies about deforestation. But it hasn’t explained why it favoured poorly sourced and decade-old data over current and far more credible UN data. The...

Why is UN Biodiversity spreading lies about deforestation?
This is a story about the United Nations Biodiversity office in Montreal posting information on the internet that it should know is false and misleading, and which severely undercuts the hard-earned reputation and credibility of the UN as a whole. No one denies that...

“KILLING” AND “SAVING” TREES
What exactly does this mean? To be human, it seems, is to be a hypocrite. We kill trees all the time, and have done so for thousands of years. Same with fish, chickens, goats, sheep, cows - you name it. Sure, we may call it harvesting or farming or some less emotional...

How much primary forest does Canada have?
The environmental media is full of grim warnings about how much primary forest the world is losing and the impact this is having on biodiversity and our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But what exactly is “primary” forest, and how much does Canada have?...

The latest dope on hemp’s claims to be “better” than wood pulp for packaging grades
Hemp promoters aren’t the first, and won’t be the last, to try and knock off wood pulp as the dominant fibre source for paper packaging. And while alternative fibres like hemp, wheat straw, bamboo, and kenaf all have possibilities as blends in a wood-fibre base, it is...