As much as we try to get off most mailing lists, some catalogs still pull us in. Williams-Sonoma, Inc.'s brands-which include West Elm, Williams-Sonoma, and Pottery Barn-have catalogs that provide plenty of daydream fodder: Maybe a red chair for the den, a new lamp for the living room, some stainless steel cookware for the kitchen. Now, while imagining the spaces you'd create, you can feel better about the catalogs themselves.

This year, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., began printing all of its catalogs on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). That means the paper comes from forests that are responsibly managed according to stringent environmental and social standards. And given that the company sends out more than 300 million catalogs annually, the decision to go with FSC-certified paper is expected to have a big impact. "As the largest catalog retailer in the country, we also hoped that our efforts would motivate other retailers to make similar changes to their business," says Oliver Clode, Williams-Sonoma's vice president of marketing finance and catalog manufacturing.

Beyond using FSC-certified paper, the company is also changing the way that paper is handled. Clode says the distance between paper mills and printing facilities is taken into consideration, so that when the company uses paper containing post-consumer content, the positive effects aren't negated by the fuel required to transport it. Throughout Williams-Sonoma, Inc., post-consumer recycled content is now used in shipping cartons, shopping bags, gift boxes, and gift wrap. Those eco-friendly shopping bags will come in handy when you go from fantasizing about your living space to actually filling it.

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