When We Care for Ourselves, We Must Care for Forests Too

When cold and flu season strikes, we turn instinctively to the remedies that keep us — and our loved ones — feeling better. From pain relievers to decongestants and cough syrups, personal care products are part of our daily lives, helping us move through sniffles, headaches, and fevers with a little more ease.

But behind those trusted staples lies an often-overlooked reality: the boxes, labels, and paper packaging that surround them are driving the destruction of the world’s most critical forests.

Every year, more than 3.1 billion trees are cut down to make paper packaging. Too often, these trees come from the world’s Ancient and Endangered Forests — ecosystems that are essential for our climate, clean air and water, and even for reducing the risk of disease. These forests are nature’s immune system, quietly working to keep both the people and the planet resilient.

Personal care brands are among the largest consumers of paper packaging. With the surge of e-commerce and a growing “paperization” of packaging, that means the impact of paper packaging on forests is slated to grow. 

Closing the Care Gap in Packaging

There’s a gap we have the chance to close. The same companies and products we trust to support our health are sometimes packaged in ways that unintentionally compromise the health of the planet — and by extension, our own. Forest destruction fuels respiratory illnesses, increases the risk of zoonotic disease, disrupts water security, and drives climate instability. 

But this story is changing. As personal care becomes more essential than ever, so too does the opportunity to align packaging with the same values of care, health, and sustainability that are already at the heart of these products. By moving together toward forest-friendly solutions, brands can extend their care beyond people to the planet we all depend on.

The Good News: Next Generation Solutions Are Here

The solutions to protect our and the planet’s health already exist. Next Generation alternatives — made from agricultural residues, recycled textiles, and other low-impact feedstocks, traditionally landfilled or burned, are commercially available, high-performing, and ready to be given a new life at scale.

These innovations significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, divert waste from landfills, and most importantly, keep Ancient and Endangered Forests standing. By embracing them, personal care brands can produce packaging that meets rising consumer expectations, strengthens circular economies, and builds supply chains that are both resilient and future-ready.

Pack4Good: Aligning Personal Care with Planetary Care

This is where Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative comes in. Working with more than 950 global partners, we help companies:

• Eliminate risk in their packaging supply chains
• Improve sourcing practices
• Reduce waste and emissions
• Scale up innovative Next Gen packaging solutions

All free of charge. 

Together, we’re transforming paper packaging from a hidden driver of deforestation into a powerful expression of care.

Time to Take Forests Out of the Medicine Cabinet

🌲 Join the Pack4Good initiative and let’s build a future where personal care and planetary care go hand in hand. Together, we can protect the foundations of health, resilience, and wellbeing for generations to come.

👉 Learn more and make your commitment at: www.canopyplanet.org/pack4good