The Eco-Advantage: Inc.’s Green 50

Introducing the Green 50, a collection of entrepreneurial companies that are showing what it means to run good businesses, attack the most pressing problems of our time–and make serious cash along the way. Since the 1940s, the Collins Cos. has used responsible forestry practices. The Portland, Oregon-based company, which owns some 300,000 acres of land in California , Oregon , and Pennsylvania , has never clear-cut a forest and has always left old-growth trees intact where possible. But after observing a wave of anti-timber protests in the early 1990s, senior vice president Wade Mosby decided that wasn’t enough. So in 1993, Collins became the first company in North America to seek and win certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, an international organization that reviews the long-term viability of forests. Working with the FSC has meant letting outsiders dictate policy in some big ways–as when one of the company’s forest managers was obliged to take courses on wildlife biology. On the other hand, FSC certification landed Collins’ hardwood products in big-boxers like Home Depot. It also led the way for cost-saving innovations in operations, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org