In an interview with PrintWeek, Two Sides US executive director Phil Riebel said talks about bringing Two Sides to the American market began last September and quickly gained support among stakeholders.

"We now have funding to start up Two Sides here and we have 30 paper merchants signed up, five pulp paper companies and one large retailer, with more coming in every week," he added.

Two Sides began in Europe in 2008 with the support of the UK National Association of Paper Merchants and its biggest achievements to date have been in challenging misleading messaging from financial services companies and others that electronic billing is far more environmentally beneficial than print.
 
Riebel said: "Our goals and strategies will be based on the European template but very tailored to the US market. At first it will probably be more business to business education like it was in Europe, but it will migrate to business-to-consumers as we get the budget and members to do that."

Riebel noted that could eventually include enlisting the support of publisher members to provide ad space for messages touting the industry's efforts to create environmentally sustainable paper production.

There are differences between the European and US print markets, with the latter a little bit behind in terms of upgrading to more modern printing equipment. But as Riebel noted, "The sustainable issues are similar. Depending on the company, you might have some with better sustainability records than others, but roughly they're discussing the same topic."

Two Sides US is going to be also looking at educating government officials on many of these sustainability issues regarding print. Riebel said he's been getting messages that some portions of government are considering going paperless, but stressed Two Sides US will not be a lobbying organization looking to influence legislation or policies.

"We're not going to spend our time lobbying Capitol Hill to change any policies, but instead will provide people with factual education noting that paper is very sustainable," he said. "Two Sides is not about using print at all costs - it's about the responsible use of print and challenging some of the misleading messages that are out there."

Riebel noted Two Sides US is still debating whether to locate its operations in Chicago or Washington, DC. But the new group has received the support of the NPTA Alliance and its member companies.

In a statement, Kevin Gammonley, CEO of the Chicago-based NPTA Alliance, said  "We are very pleased that the paper merchant community has taken a pro-active stance to support Two Sides. In our first phase of fund-raising, we have received commitments from more than 30 paper distributors who have decided to become early adopters of Two Sides in the U.S. The initiative can now establish a U.S. office and governance structure while defining its priorities to promote the sustainability of paper and print in the U.S. market."