Two Sides: CHOICES Sustainability Summit Provides Excellent Networking Opportunities

By Phil Riebel

Editor’s Note: Phil Riebel is President and Chief Operating Officer of Two Sides U.S., Inc., a non-profit membership organization that promotes the sustainability, responsible production and use of print and paper.

The CHOICES Sustainability Summit was a great experience for me. Not only did I get to go to Disneyland (my family and I are fans), I also met a number of fascinating people and made some good business contacts.

I was impressed with the Summit for a number of reasons. Firstly it was very well attended. Most company-organized events I have been to in the past always had much fewer people. The mix of companies attending was original: environmental groups, designers, retailers, pulp and paper companies, publishers, and others. This added several viewpoints to the discussions.

Secondly, the presentations were all of good quality but my personal favorites were the ones given by Dr. Beth Stevens of Disney, Drew Dudley of Nuance Leadership, Joann Cox of Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Jim Johnston of BMO. In fact, Drew presented right before me and this created a bit of an issue for me! You see he is a motivational speaker and really good at what he does. As I was watching him I could only think of the huge drop in “audience motivation” once I got up to the podium after him! Fortunately I was able to think of a transition and started my presentation with a bit of humor…I think the impact was lessened.

There were several networking opportunities including a great guided environmental tour of Disneyland. It was really nice to see that Disney has invested a considerable amount in fuel, energy and waste reduction initiatives reduction in their park and operations.

I was invited to present about our organization called Two Sides, a non-profit that promotes the sustainability, responsible production and use of print and paper. The Summit was a perfect opportunity to tell more people about our message and raise awareness about the unique sustainability features of print and paper. A number of people introduced themselves after the presentation and I am still in touch with them today. Hopefully, they join us along with Boise and our 60+ members today.

In closing, I want to thank Boise again for the invitation and I hope to attend future Summits. I also invite you all to have a look at www.twosides.us and contact me if you are interested in our initiative and our message. Our goal is to ensure people understand the life-cycle of print on paper and its unique sustainability features including renewability, recyclability, carbon storage, and the numerous environmental and social benefits of well-managed forests that also provide us with numerous forest products.

Tags: 2012 CHOICES Sustainability Summit, paper recovery, paper recycling, Phil Riebel, responsible use of paper, Two Sides