|
|
Pulp Facts: The environmental impact of wood and paper consumption
 Consumption of wood and paper products is devastating forests in the U.S. and other countries. Many of the trees used in paper production come from old-growth forests that are being clearcut. Producing one ton of virgin
office printer or copier paper requires 2 to 3 tons of trees.
Currently, the United States retains only 3 to 4 percent of its old growthforests, and three-quarters of these are designated as National Forests, which are open to logging- subsidized by over $2 billion of public funds every year. Over 440,000 miles of roads criss-cross National Forests to provide access for loggers. The Sierra Club supports a ban on commercial logging in national forests.
Timber production does not harm only trees: 3,000 species of fish and wildlife and10,000 plant species, including some 300 endangered plant and animal species, live in National Forests. Habitat destruction and fragmentation, increased stream temperatures, and soil erosion resulting from logging all threaten these species. Toxic chemicals from pulping and bleaching processes pollute air and water, harming both human health and the natural world.
While timber companies andthe U.S. Forest Service often claim that they plant new trees to replace the ones they cut, it is notan equal subsitution. New seedlings do not begin to match old-growth trees in providing habitat,protecting topsoil, absorbing carbon dioxide, or helping keep streams clean.
Unless the demand for forest products diminishes, production - and destruction - will simply betransferred to other wilderness areas, including old growth forests and rainforests outside the U.S. A long-term solution must include reduction in our consumption of virgin forest products.We can practice sustainable consumption of paper and wood products as individuals, families, communities and constituents.
Between 1992 and 1997, U.S. paper consumption rose by 20 kg per person up to 335 kg per person, but so much paper is thrown away that it accounts for approximately 40% ofmunicipal solid waste. Magazines account for the loss of 35 million trees per year, while 100 million trees are felled for junk mail annually. Plus, the amount of paper we throw away accounts for about 40 percent of municipal solid waste streams.
Consumer use of forest products is not even limited to the obvious. Clothing shoppers may confuse rayon viscose (a fabric derived from wood pulp) with rayon acetate (a cotton-based fiber) and contribute to deforestation without knowing it!
Our uses of wood-based products can have destructive consequences for wild forests. Fortunately,there are many things we can do to make our consumption of forest products more sustainable.
Sustainable Consumption Success Stories
Individuals, households, and families
In Taos, New Mexico, Jane Engel reduced her use of paper grocery bags by keeping cloth and string bags in her car trunk, so they are always on hand when she stops at the grocery store.
In San Antonio, Texas, Janice Ehlers and her family went "a step further" from using recycledpaper: "We use cloth napkins every day instead of paper. We still keep paper towels in the kitchen, but we find we need them less and less."
In Portland, Oregon, Connie Ross's mother "organized a green Christmas contest for our extended family. Each household could pick from several categories, like using less paper ordecorating with natural materials. My family won the grand prize for doing the most."
Communities
The City of Berkeley's Building Maintenance Department bought high-quality, single-polymer plastic lumber benches for city streets and parks two years ago. City workers appreciate the fact that it is easy to remove graffiti and repair holes and damage. While the benches cost more than comparable wood products initially, their significantly reduced maintenance requirements made them very competitive over the long run.
Sierra Club groups and chapters
After investigating different options, the Sierra Club group in Indianapolis now uses kenaf, a tree-free paper, for its newsletters and other publications. This decision both reduces overallconsumption of wood products and provides an example for other environmental groups.
Facing the first year of the national Club membership canvass in Indianapolis, the Heartlands Group of the Hoosier Chapter (Indiana) produced a group brochure on kenaf paper, a tree-free product grown and milled in the U.S. A run of 15,000 brochures was produced at a cost just slightly higher than if wood-pulp paper had been used.
Businesses, schools, and organizations
Dow Headquarters in Switzerland cut paper use 30 percent in six weeks - and increasedworker productivity - when it implemented the following three tactics: reporting to senders of emails whether the recipient had wanted the information; destroying distribution lists, so multiple addressees had to be manually entered; and requiring that long papers sen telectronically include a short summary, to ensure that the sender had read the publication.
When it moved to new offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Alameda County's General Services Agency eliminated the cost of printing new letterhead by switching to the use of templates in their word processing program. Now GSA staff simply type their letters and memos on the appropriate computer template. Printouts always include an up-to-date letterhead design, which can be customized for every office, and even incorporates the recycled paper logo.
In February 2001, College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine announced a new purchasingpolicy that will phase in 100% recycled, old growth free, totally chlorine free (TCF) or elemental chlorine free (ECF), and certified forest-friendly paper products. The new policy will give preference to salvaged wood and sustainable non-wood alternatives for building materials andfurniture and prohibit the purchase of wood products from old growth forests, U.S. public lands, new conversions of natural forests to plantations, and require that the college only purchasewood products that are independently certified as sustainable.
What You Can Do
At home
reduce consumption by using both sides of your paper, using email, and reading newspapers online
reduce junk mail by writing to Mail Preference Service, c/o Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
complete the circle: purchase recycled and tree-free products
buy only certified forest products and certified or salvaged wood for construction and furnishings
avoid purchasing rayon viscose clothing
purchase certified shade grown and organic coffee
In your local community
ask local stores to carry tree free and recycled products
support (or start) community recycling programs, for mixed paper as well as newspaper
encourage local stores to stock sustainably certified, salvaged or recycled wood.
request that office-supply stores stock recycled and tree-free paper.
ask local building contractors to use certified wood products.
In your Sierra Club chapter and group
print newsletters on recycled paper or alternative fibers such as kenaf; offer an online version
learn about logging and wood and paper production in your region
organize a trip to a clearcut site or have a slide show to show people the impact ofunsustainable forestry
At work or school
do not print unnecessary documents and proofread to reduce the need to re-print papers
program photocopiers to default to two-sided copying
begin a recycling program and provide bins for all departments and rooms
purchase recycled, chlorine-free, and/or alternative fiber products
Public policy activism
ban road building and logging in National Forests (McKinney-Leach bill)
remove or reverse subsidies to timber harvesting
ask elected officials to use only recycled or alternative fiber papers in their offices
Contacts
Find recycled and alternative products at: www.responsibleshopper.org; www.greenpages.org;
www.greenmarketplace.com; and www.newdream.org/thedream/buygreen.html
Find out which magazines use recycled paper at www.EcoPaperAction.org
Find suppliers of FSC certified wood at www.certifiedwood.org
Find information on environmentally sound paper at www.conservatree.org
Find tons of information, including the WoodWise Consumer Guide, at www.woodwise.org
True Cost of Paper Calculator:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/papercalculator/
Up to Top
|
