IkozPapié : paper has more than ever its say

Press inserts, digital inserts interviews, POS on events, etc. For several months it has been deployed in Reunion an awareness campaign in favor of paper seen from the perspective of sustainable development : IkozPapié. An approach initiated locally by a partisan collective, supported by Culture Papier, national structure committed to promoting the values ​​and virtues of paper and print.

The recent debate on mailbox prospectuses having awakened some preconceived ideas about paper, this campaign provides an opportunity to set the record straight. One of its merits is that it invites us to think about what a paperless society would be like., that is to say an all-screen society. How would we live there ? In fact, digital technology has in no way “killed” paper. If their cohabitation is sometimes difficult and requires adjustments, they most often pass the buck, like Leader Réunion for example, which exists in the form of a magazine and a website. The IkozPapié campaign does not enter into this debate, but recalls some truths by drawing inspiration from the Culture Papier association, created in France in 2010 and which brings together “all the stakeholders in the paper ecosystem, from the wood producer to the recycler, through the paper makers, the printers, the editors, distributors, transformers, prescribers and readers”. The objective of IkozPapié is the same as that of Culture Papier : “Raise awareness among public authorities, economic decision-makers and opinion on the cultural role, economic and social of paper and print, to promote responsible and recyclable use, as well as the necessary complementarity with digital. »

Stop au greenwashing
The originality of IkozPapié is that it is not a classic communication campaign, concentrated over a limited period. It will unfold over time, occasions and events, where his message will have its place to be heard. “More than innovative, the IkozPapié approach is intended to be fluid, educational and caring, conveyed by an endearing and recognizable mascot. » To say what ? To counter greenwashing, contradict, for example, the idea that paper has no ecological virtue because the paper industry makes, on the contrary, role model by generalizing responsible practices : 71% of wood and 83% of pulp purchased by the European pulp and paper industry is FSC or PEFC certified, the two international forest certifications promoting sustainable forest management. The paper and print sector represents less than 1% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union (Eurostat data). Ikoz- Papié also recalls that with a recycling rate of 85%, paper is one of the main materials collected and recycled, and that the wood used to produce paper pulp has two main sources : sawmill offcuts and scrap recovered from the furniture or construction industries, and forest clearing cuts, that is to say made to maintain forests and naturally promote their growth, a renewal essential to the fight against greenhouse effects.

The cultural and social value of paper
Can we imagine learning to read and, more, to write without paper ? Livres, newspapers, but also leaflets provide reading comfort, a relationship to the text, which is not the same as that on the screen. Without forgetting the digital divide, gaping on the island. Only 52% of Reunion Islanders connect every day or almost (compared to 65% in mainland France) and 30% of them never use the Internet *. This social value, cultural and educational paper is another reflection to which the messages of IkozPapié invite.