Hughes spruces up its environmental image with bamboo paper

The Howard Hughes Corp. promoted its commitment to the environment Wednesday, printing a brochure on paper made from bamboo products.

The report, "A Legacy of Stewardship," will be mailed to households in and around the corporation's 22,500-acre Summerlin master-planned community.

Howard Hughes officials said it is the first commercial publication produced in Nevada using "tree-free" paper.

Senior Vice President Mark Brown said the paper was "a natural fit for us because of the type of publication."

Hughes has been criticized by conservationists for building too close to Red Rock Canyon and the western foothills.

But its stewardship report outlines the community service and environmental background of the corporation, which includes involvement with the Community College System and the Clark County Public Education Fund, and cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management in preserving portions of Red Rock Canyon near Summerlin.

Paper was supplied by Unisource, a local distributor for Unicorp., which manufactures the product at its Phoenix Pulp and Paper Co. from bamboo grown in Thailand.

Unicorp. said bamboo is the second-fastest growing plant in the world behind seaweed. The highly resilient grass plant can grow to full maturity in only four years. Trees can take 20 or more.

Bamboo regenerates itself by producing new shoots for up to 100 years, Unicorp. explains in its brochure.

The plant also produces excellent paper.

"The quality is there. It is a first-class sheet of paper," said Mike Benjamin, president of The Creative Group, the graphic design and marketing firm that created the piece.

Benjamin said printers at Graphics West Printing were not told about the special nature of the paper but noticed no difference.

The cost is roughly the same as a similar grade of recycled paper, Benjamin said.

The project began when Hughes approached The Creative Group with the idea for the report and asked how it could go a step further with its environmental concerns.

Benjamin looked for other forms of paper and discovered the bamboo product at a local paper show.

Brown said the paper was a slight gamble because no one else in the area had used it, but he felt it was important to reinforce the company's commitment to the environment.

All parties involved are pleased with the results, and Benjamin said he expects this type of environmental thinking to become more common in the future.

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