Oil or Paper?

My coffee cup carries the SFI certification label. Manufactured from paper it is a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees.  


The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is a North American 'forest certification standard' and program of SFI Inc., a non-profit organization.  It is the only forest certification program in North America that requires participants to support research to improve forest health, conservation understanding, productivity and sustainable management of forest resources.  Since 1995, these investments have exceeded $1.6 billion. In 2015, SFI’s unique research requirements resulted in $57 million in direct investments by SFI Program Participants, with nearly 75% linked to conservation-related objectives. 



The SFI Forest Management Standard covers key values such as protection of biodiversity, species at risk and wildlife habitat; sustainable harvest levels; protection of water quality; and prompt regeneration.  A new set of SFI 2015-2019 Standards and Rules, developed through an open review process, took effect on Jan. 1, 2015.  All SFI certifications require independent, third-party audits and are performed by internationally accredited certification bodies.  The next time you choose a single-use coffee cup - choose wisely.  Choose sustainably.  A styrofoam cup is made from non-renewable petro-chemicals.  You cannot recycle styrofoam.  Nor can you compost it.  Given a choice between oil or a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees, which do you think is the more earth-friendly choice?

You can learn more about SFI here.