A beautiful reminder of why we do the things we do to promote sustainability.

I especially love the fact that after two minutes of people saying "That's a difficult question." and "I don't know." the first person to offer a solution says "Plant trees" and the second one says "Protect our forests."

This is indeed a difficult question, and an even more daunting task. But climate change can not be left to government or corporations to solve alone, it must be addressed on an individual and personal level.

What would you do to solve the climate problem?

"This is a time to roar back and assert and celebrate the beauty of the printed page."
Dave Eggers, author and founder of McSweeney’s from The San Francisco Chronicle

Nobody does print on paper like McSweeney’s, the San Francisco publishing house (and pirate store/children’s writing workshop) founded by author Dave Eggers. They publish the kinds of books you wish you had written, with special editions that make you long for a rainy day and a great big armchair. The wildly popular, one-time only, Sunday-edition-sized newspaper San Francisco Panorama is their latest attempt to “demonstrate all the great things that print journalism can (still) do.”

To my delight, the lead story of the Opinion & Analysis section of Panorama is Nicholson Baker’s “Can a Paper Mill Save a Forest? The strange possibility that the transferring of information digitally is more environmentally destructive than printing it”, featuring none other than our client Verso Paper and the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, Maine. Baker visits Jay and sees firsthand the economic devastation caused by Wassau Paper Company’s closing of the other mill in Jay – the Otis Mill. That’s one story.

The other story is how “print grows trees” by keeping forestry profitable for landowners. Baker quotes Don Carli, research fellow at the Institute of Sustainable Communications: “Hamburgers and condos kill more trees than printed objects ever will.” Carli goes on to explain that when landowners can no longer generate income from logging, the developers move in and offer steep premiums that far exceed what the land is worth as a forest. Land that’s been clear-cut for low-density development is truly deforested, and all the benefits of that forest, such as biodiversity, carbon sequestration, watersheds, beauty, recreation, etc. are lost forever.

HOORAY, I say. Finally someone other than a paper company has stepped up to the plate and spoken the truth, cutting to the heart of the well-propagated myth—which, according to Carli, some might say is a fraud—that if we stop using paper, they’ll stop cutting down trees.

This is not a harmless little myth – it’s a myth that has significant environmental and economic consequences. There are 44 million acres of U.S. forestland that are in danger of being sold for development or converted to agriculture in the next 20 years. Mill closings across the country are tearing communities apart where three generations of families have been supported by the forest products industry. Working forests are healthy forests and contribute to a healthy community.

We at Perdue Creative are very proud to be a part of creating the soon-to-launch "Print Grows Trees" campaign with the Printing & Graphics Association, Mid-Atlantic (PGAMA). The campaign website will give us the opportunity to expose the real facts and figures about deforestation and the role that paper and print play in keeping our forests alive and well.

We’re hoping that Baker’s article will reach a new audience of people who bash paper based on their false assumptions. We need a new generation of better informed tree huggers, and maybe McSweeney’s can help reach that generation.

Meanwhile, I’ll go on banging my little paper drum and this Sunday, when it starts raining again, I’ll stretch out on my couch, peruse the rest of my Panorama, shop from my Anthropologie catalog, stick “Yes” stickers on all the stuff I want in my Lucky magazine and scribble a few notes in my journal.

P.S. -- If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair and visit 826 Valencia Street in the Mission District. You can check out all of McSweeney’s titles, buy some glass eyeballs and, if you’re lucky, see a children’s writing workshop going on in the back room.

HopeWorks is a cause we believe in because they don't just give people a hand out, they give them a hand up. With a holistic 13-week personal career development program, HopeWorks helps the poor and chronically unemployed to learn life skills, job skills, interview skills — even earn their GED if necessary — to become gainfully employed and contributing citizens of our city. Furthermore, HopeWorks clients are given spiritual guidance and counseling by a staff of trained professionals and dedicated volunteers.

We are proud to lend our support for the Second Annual HopeWorks Breakfast, "A Morning of Hope" this February 20. The breakfast fundraiser will be highlighted by speaker Sean Tuohy, a local entrepreneur, NBA broadcaster and subject of The Blind Side.  The incredible story of the Tuohy family's relationship with Michael Oher mirrors the way HopeWorks shows compassion, provides opportunity and helps people realize their potential in life.

Read more about this exciting event in the HopeWorks Breakfast brochure (PDF 2MB) or visit www.whyhopeworks.org.

Things are revving up for Re:Fuel Memphis, the city-wide Christian men's conference scheduled to take place April 30 and May 1. Justin has really pulled out the stops of this pro bono project, from coming up with the chosen name to designing the logo to creating the overall look and feel. Save-the-date postcards began going out just before Christmas and the Re:Fuel website launched shortly after the first of the year. A cross-media campaign is planned including print and social media. Guys, mark your calendars. And stay tuned as details are quickly coming together for this inaugural event.