Rockland Firm's Forest-Focused Collaboration Spans The Globe

ORANGEBURG, NY — One of Orangetown's major businesses, Nice-Pak, which produces wet wipes for the global consumer market, is joining forces with two leading non-profit organizations, American Forests and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative's flagship education program, Project Learning Tree.

Together they hope to help drive awareness that trees and forests are the best nature-based solution to climate change and appreciation for the vital role trees play in improving health and protecting the planet for future generations.

"Climate change is the most critical challenge humanity is facing, and the pandemic has shown us that our wellbeing depends on both our immediate and global environments being healthy," said Nice-Pak Chief Executive Officer Robert Julius.

Nice-Pak brings broad-based reach to the effort, seeking to engage not only customers but also suppliers and communities with knowledge and the opportunity to participate. As exclusive wet wipe sponsors of Project Learning Tree and partners of American Forests, the company is making an investment in tree planting programs and the development and implementation of youth environmental education programs.

Those include:

• Supporting reforestation efforts to help address climate change and social inequities faced by people in under-resourced communities: Together with American Forests, Nice-Pak aims to foster the planting of 150,000 trees across the U.S. over three years. This effort will have the potential to capture 92,000 metric tons of carbon over the tree's lifespan.
• Supporting youth environmental education using trees and forests as windows on the world: Project Learning Tree will develop and implement a digital curriculum specifically around the connection between healthy forests and human health and make it available to their K-12 school network beginning in Spring 2022, reaching over 25,000 students over the next three years.
• Making a global commitment: Through Nice-Pak International colleagues in Europe, Nice-Pak will also make a commitment to the 1t.org campaign, a worldwide movement to conserve, restore and grow one trillion healthy trees worldwide by 2030.

Nice-Pak is advancing sustainable forestry in its supply chain by increasing the amount of certified cellulosic fibers in its products year-over-year and committing the Nice ‘N CLEAN® brand to use 100 percent certified fiber by the end of 2022, company officials said. Nice-Pak’s commitment to social and environmental issues is fundamental across the company’s three strategic pillars of advancing health and wellness, environmental sustainability, and educating and supporting communities.

"Environmental education has never been more critical," said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Project Learning Tree, which is committed to advancing sustainability through forest-focused collaboration. "Teaming up with Nice-Pak and American Forests enables us to accelerate students’ awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of the health benefits of trees while helping to build the next generation of sustainability leaders."

Headquartered in Orangeburg, Nice-Pak and its family of companies, including its sister companies PDI and Nice-Pak International, has been a global leader in the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of pre-moistened wipes since 1957.

“Sustaining environments, and engaging and educating communities, are two important pillars of social responsibility at Nice-Pak," Deb Ryba, Global Director of Sustainability, told Patch. "We’ve been in Rockland, at our Orangeburg headquarters since 1986, and there’s no better place for us to partner with local advocates to promote sustainable forestry and educate on the health benefits of forests."