Norcross, GA – Unisource Worldwide, Inc. one of the leading distributors of paper, packaging and facility supplies in North America, has received  federal service mark registration from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the brand used to identify its unisourcegreenfinder proprietary search tool.

"Receiving federal service mark registration is significant because it will allow us to build a distinctive brand for our unique unisourcegreenfinder proprietary search tool, located on our unisourcegreen.com paper Web site," said Ed Farley, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Unisource.  "The unisourcegreenfinder tool provides a valuable link between printers, designers and corporate specifiers.  It also allows this group and other end-users searching for papers with green attributes to easily locate Chain-of-Custody certified respect printers in a specific location."

In order to be listed in the unisourcegreenfinder search tool, printers must be qualified and approved as a Unisource respect printer.  Unisource's respect program is defined by three "Eco-Pillars," which include:

1.    Reforestation attributes; Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative     (SFI) and/or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Chain-of-Custody     Certification,
2.    Renewable energy and utilization of manufacturing programs to safeguard resources: certification of Green e and/or Green Seal; and
3.    Recycled content: a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer recovered fiber, certified by the manufacturing mill and meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended guidelines.

A leader in corporate sustainability and environmental stewardship, Unisource was the first national paper distributor to attain national Chain-of-Custody certification from the FSC, SFI, and PEFC.  

"By utilizing the comprehensive and unique unisourcegreenfinder search tool, users can select their desired paper grade with specific environmental attributes, including FSC, SFI, PEFC, Green-e and Recycled Papers from Unisource's available product line of environmentally responsible papers," said Farley.

He added that after the initial search is complete, unisourcegreenfinder displays the types of products having the specific attributes that are available from Unisource's distribution centers, making the process easier to find respect printers with environmentally-friendly papers.  "The unisourcegreenfinder search tool is part of Unisource's commitment to work with our partners to make it easier to 'go green'," said Farley.