Our Communities

At Georgia-Pacific, we believe it´s important to contribute to the quality of life of communities where our employees live and work. Strong communities are sustainable communities, providing social, environmental and economic benefits today and in the future.

We have a long history of involvement in and support for our communities. Because many of our facilities are located in rural areas or small towns, we play a key role in the economic vitality and everyday life of these areas.

We have always supported communities with initiatives that contribute to quality of life.

Georgia-Pacific EMEA is conscious of the lack of hygiene in some parts of the world and has conducted a number of campaigns to promote hygiene in deprived areas.

Bath Tissue Buys Help Build Sustainable Communities

Recently, buyers of Lotus Moltonel and Lotus Soft Embo bathroom tissue were doing more than just restocking their bathroom cabinet.  They were helping improve living conditions for underprivileged children.

It was part of a collaboration between Georgia-Pacific EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia) and SOS Children's Villages in Belgium, France and Finland.  SOS Children's Villages is a non-governmental, social development organization that helps needy children shape their own futures and is active in 132 countries worldwide.

• Purchases of Lotus Moltonel in Belgium raised more than 40,000 Euros ($58,000) to fund toilets and sanitation facilities for two schools in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Consumers who bought Lotus Moltonel in France also raised about 40,000 Euros ($58,000) to provide drinking water and build sanitation facilities for the SOS Children's Village in Tulear, Madagascar.
• Buyers of Lotus Soft Embo bath tissue in Finland helped in the donation of 20,000 Euros ($29,000) to assist in the construction of sanitary facilities at the new SOS Children's Village in Tampere, Finland.

The on-pack promotions have been a success for both SOS Children's Villages and Georgia-Pacific.

"I am delighted that we are fulfilling the social dimension of sustainability through our brand that represents how highly Georgia-Pacific values the importance of hygiene," says Joerg Biebernick, category general manager and vice president – bath tissue/EMEA.  "Since launching the operation, we have seen an increase in market share for Lotus Moltonel and increased sales for Lotus Soft Embo, making it a winning situation for all parties."

Kitchen towel buys help save the african elephant

Our kitchen towel brands  across Europe - Thirst Pockets (UK and Ireland); Okay (France); Lotus (Netherlands); Colhogar (Spain) - are actively engaged in helping to protect the African elephant in the Burkina Faso nature reserve.  The project conducted by "Des Eléphants& des Hommes", with the support of our brands, is designed to enable humans and elephants to coexist by improving the level of protection afforded to the elephants of the Mouhoun region, particularly those in the DeuxBalé nature reserve in Burkina Faso.

This project is founded on three main concepts: nature, elephant and human. Its underlying principle is that elephant conservation efforts must focus on preserving the elephant's natural environment and limiting the expansion of human activities.

The "Des Eléphants& des Hommes" association is undertaking practical, grassroots work, in close partnership with regional stakeholders, to :

• Preserve the elephant's natural habitat by protecting forests and creating seasonal migration corridors.
• Ensure that local communities around nature reserves are actively involved in these conservation efforts by supporting the development of sustainable activities that preserve the natural environment.
• Raise awareness among school children through an environmental education program that focuses on the elephant's importance as a symbol of natural and cultural heritage.
• Prevent illegal human activities that harm elephants, including essential surveillance and control work in protected areas.
• Develop tourist activities in the region by strengthening the region's ability to host visitors, communicating to a local, national and international audience and developing high-quality tourist products.

These measures will help to ensure that elephants are able to reproduce and grow unhindered, in a protected environment, alongside the region's human population.

Through our brands, we are playing an active role in protecting elephants in Burkina Faso for the next three years, making a financial contribution to the "Save Your Logo" programme to support the activities of "Des Eléphants & des Hommes". The value of this contribution is partially based on the number of packs of our branded kitchen towel products sold throughout Georgia-Pacific's "Save The Elephant" campaign.