The Two Sides initiative provides a forum to discuss views about the use of paper and to enable participants to distinguish between fact and fiction. Bringing these discussions out into the open is a great way to engage with your audiences. What's more, the promotional material looks good and the membership is growing, with new recruits joining from all sub-sectors of the industry.

It seems that there is a pretty broad agreement that, as an industry, not enough has been done to date to shout about paper's environmental credentials. Supporting the Two Sides campaign looks to be a positive step to help move the agenda forward.

I have been following the media furore surrounding Apple's new iPad, released at the end of January. If the hype is to be believed, this new gizmo promises to really shake up the publishing industry. Looking at the internet forums, I was struck by how easily comments to the effect of dropping the ‘dead-tree' products in favour of an electronic alternative, is undoubtedly the "right environmental choice", spread across the web. It simply doesn't make sense to me. To my mind, these are exactly the people your industry needs to reach out to - the generation that believe paper is intrinsically unsustainable.

Broadcast medium
For many companies that use print the real audience is more often than not, Joe Bloggs. The public are ultimately the customers whose needs must be satisfied. If consumers believe switching to e-billing, for example ‘saves trees' then the supplier will react accordingly.

I suspect that selling e-billing as an environmental improvement may often just be another example of greenwash. You have to question their motives when companies say they will charge their customers if they want to switch back to paper bills. Clearly, the primary driver will be cost savings. I suspect time will show that some companies are benefiting from customers who do not actually look at their internet accounts, but simply file the emails.

Challenging the lazy view that ‘killing trees is always bad' is where the success of the Two Sides campaign will be determined. The audience that really counts is the general public and Two Sides needs to find ways of broadcasting its message beyond the industry. I don't doubt that ultimately the campaign will be a success, and the work it has done so far is very encouraging. The open approach adopted by the initiative is the only true way to fully embrace sustainability across an industry - and at an individual organisational level too.

Supporting Two Sides is a great way to help, but what else can you do within your own organisation? Take a moment to consider your approach. If a buyer of your product went onto your website today what would it tell them about the way you work? Do you also adopt an open approach? Your customers and employees can't be expected to know what you are doing if you don't tell them.

The vast majority of companies within the broader printing industry - from paper mills, to printers, to publishers - all have a great story to tell: sustainable forestry, efficient print processes and correct handling of waste to name but a few. There is no need to write a 128-page CSR report, a few pages on your website is a great place to start. It will show you are serious about how you operate and encourage continuous improvement and really focus your operations on the important areas.
A great deal of work still needs to be done to convince the general public about the environmental credentials of paper. In my opinion, this is the real challenge that Two Sides and the printing industry face.

Mark Line is the executive chairman of Two Tomorrows, www.twotomorrows.com