This is probably why International Paper’s homepage features a black-and-white photo of an inquisitive little boy sitting in a tree, looking skyward—and not this picture, of one of its smoke-belching mills, that illustrates its Wikipedia entry.

But before we whittle away at the paper company’s website, let’s consider a few facts about a brand you’ve likely heard of but probably know very little about. International Paper—or IP, an abbreviation that’s probably confused people since the advent of the Internet Protocol—makes more than that office supply you barely think about until your printer nags you to “PC LOAD LETTER.”

As the largest pulp and paper brand in the world, IP has had a hand in the production of several products that you touch, put things in or on (or take things out of or off), or sit on or in front of every day. It is also a major landowner, at one time possessing as much as 6.3 million acres of US forestland. According to its Hoover’s profile, the company still retains half a million acres of land in the US (mostly in the southeastern states) and has harvesting rights to nearly 1 million acres of forestland in Brazil and Russia.

The brand was born in 1898, so its 19th-century name seems rather quaint in the 21st. Today the “Paper” part of the IP brand name is about as accurate as the “Electric” part of GE.

This theme is furthered by the text you’ll find on the homepage: The word “forest” appears almost as often as “paper.”

Navigation-wise, the site delivers a few different ways to find the information you seek. A top nav bar lists several categories—product divisions plus the obligatory “about us” and news/media sections—in small text. Beneath the photo of the boy, larger text details the three main components of the company: paper (duh), packaging, and forestry.

All this ties together with the site’s main message, as spelled out under the brand logo: Worldwide IP Solutions. (We should add that “solutions” appears frequently on the homepage, too.) This message could be momentarily confusing, though, considering that Internet Protocol thing we mentioned earlier. If you type “IP Solutions” into Google (with the quotes), the first 31 links returned are related to Internet Protocols, and the International Paper-related link is a section buried deep within the site. Granted, International Paper’s tagline might actually be something other than “Worldwide IP Solutions,” but it’s not displayed on the homepage in the way that GE prominently uses its “imagination at work” slogan. (To be fair, neither Georgia-Pacific nor Weyerhaeuser, two major IP competitors, has a slogan on its homepage.)

The product information is specific and tailored to a variety of professionals: graphic designers, small-business owners looking for the right paper, a cinema manager deciding on a popcorn container, or a cabinetmaker hunting for plywood. The copy is clearly written and is (naturally) available in a printer-friendly format. The site is so extensive that it seems like every IP brochure ever published is available online—which is one way to save a few trees.

The site doesn’t just showcase pretty pictures of the forest; it has a section with the all-encompassing name “Environment,” where the brand notes that its business strategy “is to make products in a safe and healthful workplace, to manage natural resources wisely, and to continually improve our environmental performance.” This section discusses the brand’s initiatives regarding greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable forestry and forest management, recycling, self-replenishing resources, and even hunting.

Both Weyerhaeuser and Georgia-Pacific have similar sections. Weyerhaeuser also uses the tree motif on its homepage; its “Environment” section features a cute-kid photo—this one (we can’t tell whether it’s a boy or a girl) holds a cute little frog. Georgia-Pacific’s homepage, in contrast, has neither images nor text (except in a drop-down menu you have to mouse over) that reflects a “we take from the forest but we also give back to the forest” theme.

It’s unclear how much IP’s efforts affect its listing on a think-tank’s “Toxic 100,” where the brand is declared the 27th-worst corporate air polluter in the US. (The list, published in 2006, uses 2002 data.) But even the most skeptical, including those offended by that Wikipedia mill photo, would concede that IP’s Environment section amounts to more than just lip service. (Whether the brand could be doing more is a debate for another article.)

After plowing through expansive product information and the dissertation-like section on IP’s corporate social responsibility policies (besides the environment, the site also describes the brand’s views on ethics, diversity, and philanthropy), one might miss the section trumpeting IP’s innovations in the paper and packaging industry. Yes, the charts comparing the basis weight, gloss, and opacity of several paper varieties are necessary, but the articles on how IP products keep fruit looking fresher longer and coffee warmer showcase a welcome “cool factor” for the brand.

There’s a saying that a document will only look as good as the paper it’s printed on. In the case of International Paper, whether you use a sleek flat-screen monitor or a chunky old CRT, you’ll find a website as useful as a clean sheet of white paper, but in some cases, just as bland.