PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA -- May 4, 2007 -- After receiving tremendous response to last month’s announcement of PaperSpec’s enhanced Recycled Papers service, today the online service provider announced a webinar series that will initially focus on helping the paper buying community on what sustainability really means and how it affects our paper choices. With the world’s population expected to increase from 6 billion to over 9 billion in the next 50 years, global demand for paper and board products is expected to grow at an annual rate of over 2.4% (source: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Accordingly, interest in recycled and other eco-friendly paper products is increasing. Armed with overwhelming feedback from their readers, PaperSpecs will concentrate their webinar series on three distinct subjects: Sustainability, Paper Basics, and Digital Printing. The first webinar will aim to provide designers, print buyers and other paper professionals with a fact-filled 1-hour session that will help them to better understand the value and impact of acquiring sustainable paper products. Webinar #1 Details The webinar, titled “Sustainability – No smoke or mirrors,” will be conducted on May 23rd at 2:00 pm EST/11:00 am PST and will feature guest speaker Liza Murphy, senior manager, marketing and business development in the Rainforest Alliance's sustainable forestry program. The topics covered in the first webinar will be: - Sustainability: What does it mean and how does it affect you and me?; - Paper and Sustainability: Recycled versus virgin, pre- versus post-consumer fiber, and perceptions versus reality (i.e. does recycling paper really benefit the environment?); - Terminologies: ECF, TCF, PCF, the effect of bleaching (brightness) on the environment, the clarification of FSC versus FSI (the most common mix up), Green Seal, Green-e; - Logo Usage: When can the recycled logo, FSC or any other certification logo be used on a printed piece. To attend the webinar, prospective attendees can register at www.paperspecs.com/webinar/sustainability.htm. PaperSpecs Quote “Even though sustainability seems to be in the press a lot, our surveys show that overall there is still vast confusion about the terminology, the purpose, and the certifications in particular,” notes PaperSpecs founder Sabine Lenz. “There is so much information it's easy to get things mixed up. We are planning on two different sustainability webinars. The first one will concentrate on the general terminology and certifications, and the second will give designers and print buyers step by step instructions on how to make sustainable choices for their print projects.” Rainforest Alliance Quote “The work that PaperSpecs is doing to educate the print buying community on how they can support sustainability through the responsible practice of buying FSC-certified and recycled papers is vital to ensure that these products are understood by specifiers, and continue to gain the market success they deserve," added Liza Murphy. "We hope that other industry organizations will follow this lead by committing to further educate the print buying community of the social and economical value of purchasing paper products that come from forests that are managed to be productive, protect soils and waterways, and benefit local communities.” PaperSpec’s Green Database PaperSpecs now identifies recycled (or “green”) and certified papers with an enhanced search option. Within seconds, designers and print buyers can find green papers from a database of more than 4,200 papers from over 70 mills. PaperSpecs offers an easy search for TRF (Total Recycled Fiber) or PCW (Post Consumer Waste) values, and identifies which papers meet EPA requirements or are certified by FSC, SFI, Green Seal etc . The database includes more than 600 papers that are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified and more than 1,400 that meet or exceed EPA requirements.