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Here at birdsong gregory, a branding and advertising agency in Charlotte, NC, we’re always looking for ways to help our clients turn a shade or two greener, and this ambitious partnership caught our eye.

Mohawk Fine Papers helped Whole Foods Market become the first national retailer to produce all of its national in-store Earth Month materials using “third generation” closed-loop recycled papers. The term “third-generation” means that the same fibers have been used to manufacture paper three separate times, and “closed-loop” refers to the practice of generating zero waste by recycling and reusing a company’s own paper. 

The grocery stores took their own paper waste and had it de-inked and recycled into paper pulp.  The pulp was then sent to Mohawk to be manufactured into new paper for the production of marketing material and in-store branding collateral. Typically, Whole Foods Market immediately recycles its in-store materials as soon as they become outdated; however, for this program the company saved and stored all outdated materials with the purpose of creating enough volume to manufacture new paper for itself.

According to Mohawk’s Environmental Calculator, Whole Foods Market created a significant environmental savings by using closed-loop papers. 20,000 pounds of third-generation 100% postconsumer waste paper were used for the Earth Month materials, creating an environmental savings equal to:

— 192 trees preserved for future use
— 554.42 pounds of waterborne waste not created
— 81,557 gallons of wastewater flow saved
— 9,024 pounds of solid waste not generated
— 17,768 pounds of greenhouse gases prevented
— 136,000,000 BTUs energy not consumed

Because Mohawk manufactured the paper with wind-generated electricity, an additional impact was created: 9,232 pounds of air emissions were not generated (which means that 4 barrels of crude oil were not used) and the savings was equal to not driving 10,000 miles or planting 624 trees.