<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Jason--<div><br></div><div>In my opinion Lyptus is no more green than a corn crop.</div><div><br></div><div>Weyerhauser's PR is that Lyptus is intercropped among stands of native forest, which preserves the native forest. But think about it: an Australian tree is grown in Brazil--meaning that no other species native to its Australian ecosystem are present (except possibly the mycorrhizae carried on the roots). None of the native Brazilian insects, birds or animals have any relationship to the Lyptus, because it's a foreign plant. Meanwhile vast tracts of native forest have been cleared to grow Lyptus plantations, removing habitat for many species. InW's aerial photos it all looks green, but it's a native forest adjacent to a monoculture plantation.</div><div><br></div><div>Short story: native forest gone, replaced by monoculture.</div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div><br></div><div>Mike O'Brien</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div>On Feb 28, 2011, at 9:43 PM, Jason Holstine wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size:11pt">If you haven’t heard of it, Lyptus is a eucalyptus wood brand by Weyerhaeuser grown in coastal Brazil. It’s primary green attribute is rapid growth—harvestable in 14-16 years. However, I’ve always understood it to be a greenwash b/c it’s a non-tropical wood grown in tropical land, meaning the soil must be poor and need heavy pesticide and fertilizer. And it’s not FSC. They reclaim slash-and-burn land.<br>
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However, I had a call with a Weyerhauser sr rep who provided some documentation claiming it’s really quite sustainable on a number of attributes.<br>
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Getting right to the point about FSC, they explained that the material is “FSC Controlled Wood”--even though the material isn’t FSC stamped, they have COC and can have the material stamped if needed. Specific claim:<br>
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</span></font><span style="font-size:11pt"><font face="Arial">FSC Controlled Wood – Weyerhaeuser South America Sales & Marketing has FSC Chain of Custody and a completed FSC Controlled Wood risk assessment. This allows Lyptus products to be considered FSC Controlled Wood. This means that although the Lyptus forests are not themselves FSC certified, the forests meet a minimum requirement of being well-managed and controlled relating to:<br>
</font><font color="#996633"><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">a) </font></font><font face="Arial">Illegally harvested wood;<br>
</font><font color="#996633"><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">b) </font></font><font face="Arial">Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights;<br>
</font><font color="#996633"><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">c) </font></font><font face="Arial">Wood harvested in forests where high conservation values are threatened by management activities;<br>
</font><font color="#996633"><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">d) </font></font><font face="Arial">Wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use;<br>
</font><font color="#996633"><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">e) </font></font><font face="Arial">Wood from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted.<br>
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FSC COC is QMI-COC-001043 and QMI-CW-001043 Mixed Sources. They told me they chose not to invest in FSC labels b/c they elected PEFC and Cerflor instead.<br>
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They also said the only pesticide is a pre-emergent in the hybrid seed—no fertilizer or pesticide during operations/harvesting. And when they reclaimed this old land, they created a reserve of 300,000 hectares of old tropical natives that ring the plantation.<br>
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So should we consider this FSC quality wood? Do these claims seem legit?<br>
What’s the consensus of whether this product is a legitimate claim or a greenwash?<br>
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</font></span><font size="1"><font face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size:9pt"><b>Jason Holstine<br>
</b></span><span style="font-size:7pt">Amicus Green Building Center<br>
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