Smallholders Lead the Way on PEFC Certification in Vietnam

The Home Depot® announced that its stores have cut energy use 23.5 percent since 2010, exceeding the company's goal to reduce consumption by 20 percent by 2020. Hitting that energy-saving goal three years early is among progress detailed in the company's 2018 Responsibility Report, released last week. Titled A Year of Progress, the report outlines the company's sustainability progress and environmental, workforce and community initiatives. The report is available on The Home Depot's corporate newsroom Built from Scratch, including a summary infographic. In addition, a special episode of the company's "Give Me an H" podcast is available, featuring Ron Jarvis, vice president of environmental innovation. "As part of our values, we encourage our associates to be entrepreneurial, innovative and creative, and the successes you'll see in this report are a testament to their talent and dedication," said Craig Menear, The Home Depot chairman, CEO and president. "We're proud of their work, even as we look ahead with the understanding that there's much more to do." Click Read More below for additional information.

FSC Canada would like to welcome Etienne Vezina, Resolute Forest Products to the FSC Canada Board of Directors. Etienne will replace Andre Gravel (economic chamber) who has decided to resign from his position. Etienne started working in forest certification back in 2004 helping enterprises implementing the FSC boreal standard on public land in the province of Québec. He became a qualified auditor for both the FSC FM and COC standards in 2008 and remained in his position until 2013 as an independent consultant. During those years, Etienne performed 50 different FSC audits for SAI Global, as lead auditor for FSC forest management audits, both on public and private lands. He also kept working as a consultant helping several companies to implement both their FSC space FM and COC systems. Étienne is now Manager, Forestry and Certification for Resolute Forest Products where he oversees the company wide forest management and chain of custody certifications. Etienne holds a master’s degree in international studies as well as in Administration with concentration in sustainable development and a bachelor’s degree in forestry. He is also a member of l'Ordre des Ingénieurs Forestiers du Québec (OIFQ). Etienne has been appointed as Andre’s replacement in accordance with FSC Canada’s By Laws which permits the nominee from the chamber with the next highest number of votes in the most recent election.

Opponents of a California plastic bag ban have succeeded in stopping the ban from going into effect July 1 by securing a spot on the 2016 ballot. The Golden State had been slated to become the first US state to institute such a ban, but Tuesday, state election officials confirmed that the national advocacy group American Progressive Bag Alliance had collected the necessary half million signatures to place the issue before voters. This will stall a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in September until after the 2016 election.