All About Paper

This is some of the best online content I've seen recently on the environmental issue of paper with stats on how many trees we're consuming to create the paper we use, and finally some ways to minimize paper use in the office, recycle more, and adopt recycled content paper use more fully.

In The Secret Life of Paper, a five-minute video about paper waste from the New York City based nonprofit Inform we learn that in the US, we recycle only about half the paper we discard and the paper industry is the 4th largest emitter of greenhouse gases. This short video is part of Inform’s Secret Life series, which also includes a short video, the Secret Life of Cell Phones. Interesting stuff.

To go a little deeper, check out the Recycled Paper Information Page with reasons to use recycled paper and some data on why it matters so much. For example, the site states:

• The average American uses 9 trees (750 pounds) worth or paper per year.
• About half the trees cut down in North America annually are used for making paper.
• Paper accounts for 30 to 40% of landfill waste.
• More than 90% of the printing and writing paper made in the U.S. is from virgin tree fiber. 
• Nearly a ton of new recycled paper can be made from a ton of recycled stock compared to the 2 to 3.5 tons of trees required to make a ton of virgin paper. This is one of the reasons recycled paper results in lower solid waste by-products and uses less energy, water and chemicals.
• Producing recycled paper causes 74% less air pollution, 35% less water pollution, and creates five times the number of jobs than producing virgin paper.

You can also check out San Francisco-based Conservatree’s comprehensive listing of the different types and vendors of recycled office paper and ways to reduce, reuse, and eliminate office paper use in your office.

Here are some highlights of their tips on using less paper in your office:

• Send and receive faxes from your computer instead of using print-outs.
• Use e-mail instead of memos and faxes.
• Transfer documents on disk or through e-mail for editing and review.
• Offer annual reports and major documents on disk to interested recipients.
• Develop an Intranet Web page for frequently requested information.
• Use fax stick-on labels instead of cover sheets.
• Use both sides of the sheet of paper, whether for copying or printing.
• Provide half-size sheets for short memos and letters.
• Purchase printers and copiers that can easily duplex. Program the defaults to double-sided.

Finally, for those of you who want to really delve in to the subject, also check out Conservatree’s five part online section on paper and the environment.