Victoria's Secret Goes Green On Paper for Catalogs

After enduring protests by an environmental group over the past two years, Victoria's Secret will stop using catalog paper made with pulp from a Canadian forest that is an important wildlife habitat and will move toward buying paper certified by a group that scrutinizes logging practices.

Because Victoria's Secret mails about 350 million catalogs a year, its moves are likely to have a ripple effect on paper mills and across the rest of the catalog industry. ForestEthics, the nonprofit group that targeted the retailer, said it will immediately turn its attention to other large retailers that it believes haven't made adequate environmental commitments.

Limited Brands Inc., the parent company of Victoria's Secret, said its catalogs will no longer use pulp from the inland temperate rain forest in British Columbia or from the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta. The latter area is part of the boreal forest, a critical habitat for many species, including woodland caribou, which biologists say have been imperiled by the spread of logging and other industries across Canada's evergreen forests .

A 10% Starting Point

The retailer said that next year it will shift its catalogs to paper that is either 10% postconsumer waste -- that is, recycled -- or that has at least 10% of its content certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The council has a rigorous set of benchmarks for forest management, including measures to protect wildlife and a prohibition on logging levels that exceed forest-growth levels. It uses third-party audits to evaluate paper suppliers, and its requirements are favored by environmentalists over other groups' forest-management guidelines.

Limited said the 10% goals are only a starting point and it vowed to continue improving its paper sourcing.

Victoria's Secret already has shifted its clearance catalogs to paper with 80% postconsumer content. Limited also plans to reduce the amount of paper it uses overall and is donating at least $1 million over the next two years to research and advocacy to protect endangered forests and improve catalog-industry practices.

Limited, based in Columbus, Ohio, said it is in contract negotiations with paper suppliers, declining to name the companies involved. But the retailer said it is pushing paper-industry executives and Canadian government officials to make available more paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. "I'm optimistic that the logging industry is getting that message from us loud and clear," said Tom Katzenmeyer, Limited's head of investor relations.

Positioned to Benefit

Montreal forest-product companies Domtar Inc. and Tembec Inc. have been early converts to environmentally friendly harvesting practices, and they could benefit from the shift by Limited, particularly if other retailers follow its lead. Both companies have been hurt by the strength of the Canadian dollar and falling lumber prices because of the slowing U.S. housing market.

The campaign against Victoria's Secret was launched two years ago by ForestEthics, which has staff in the U.S., Canada and Chile. It began meeting with the company shortly after. ForestEthics created a Web site called "Victoria's Dirty Secret," and supporters held more than 750 demonstrations outside stores. At times, activists carried chain saws while wearing lingerie and angel wings, in a sendup of Victoria's Secret models.

Limited said the demonstrations didn't have a material effect on its sales. "We were not adversaries by any means," Mr. Katzenmeyer said. "Obviously, they had to do what they had to do to get our attention, but we quickly were able to learn a lot f rom them."

Who's Next

Todd Paglia, executive director of ForestEthics, said the group plans to mail letters next week to J. Crew Group Inc., L.L. Bean Inc., Sears Holdings Corp. and its Lands' End subsidiary, and other catalog retailers. "All the companies that have sat on the sidelines -- now they know we're freed up," Mr. Paglia said. "The catalog industry in general is badly in need of reform. It's tremendously inefficient and destructive environmentally."

Even as an increasing number of shoppers make purchases online, the number of catalogs mailed in the U.S. continues to rise, in part because retailers have learned that many customers like browsing through a catalog before placing an online order. Companies mailed 19.16 billion catalogs in the U.S. last year, up 15% from 16.6 billion in 2000, according to the Direct Marketing Association. The group estimates that Web sales will equal catalog sales by 2009.

ForestEthics has had a series of victories over the past five years, and momentum seems to be gathering for companies to switch to recycled and sustainably harvested paper sources. Just last week,Williams-Sonoma Inc. -- which mails Pottery Barn catalogs, among others -- said that more than 95% of the paper in its catalogs will come from sources certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Last month Dell Inc. said its marketing publications now use an average of 50% recycled paper, well ahead of its goal to reach that percentage by 2009. Office Depot Inc. and Staples Inc. also have agreed in recent years to make their paper products more environmentally friendly.