Enviro Girl loves paper–pretty stationery, books, new glossy magazines, gift wrap and the stacked pages of a newly printed manuscript. But she also understands the environmental cost of paper. Because of the huge demand for virgin pulp to make softer, purer, smoother paper products, old growth forests are being cleared across North America and replaced with fast-growing pine trees to produce enough wood for more virgin pulp.
Unfortunately, these pulpwood forests leave a devastating environmental impact:
* Any monoculture destroys biodiversity, removing habitat and food sources and creating further imbalance for plant, animal and insect species.
* Fast-growing pine trees do not process CO2 at the same rate as old forests. Removing those forests removes a huge arsenal in the fight against global warming.
* Pulpwood forests require a lot of water to grow so fast–and without foliage and leaf layers composting into mulch beneath their canopy, water runs off or evaporates unfiltered. Pulpwood forests usually dry up groundwater sources over time, leaving the area depleted of their water resources.
* Pulpwood forests turn rich soil into acid-rich soil stripped of most of its nutrients. This naturally leads to erosion and creates acres of unproductive land.
What’s an eco-warrior to do? Here’s where the 3 R’s come into play: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
1. Reduce your use of paper. Pay your bills online, use both sides of paper instead of one, use cloth shopping bags instead of opting for paper bags, stop buying paper towels and paper napkins.
2. Reuse paper–buy paper products made from 100% post-consumer waste fibers and products packaged with post-consumer waste fibers. This puts more demand on producers to use recycled content in their paper products. The paper industry really believes consumers prefer paper products made from virgin pulp. But the industry listens to money talking, so spend your money on recycled. Beware, however, “100% recycled” and “post-consumer waste” mean two different things. “100% recycled” generally refers to wood chips and mill scraps from harvested trees. Unless the label includes “post-consumer waste fibers,” the paper wasn’t produced using actual recycled paper.
3. Recycle. Don’t throw paper into landfills, recycle it or compost it–and buy products made from recycled resources. Commit to letting forests grow old again and halting the deforestation of old-growth forests by changing your consumption.
This started because Hearst family financed anti hemp campaign getting it listed and prohibited as dangerous drug. This stopped production of industrial hemp which makes high grade paper with faster growth and less than 10% paper manufacture pollution and waste residue. Also alternative use for cloth. He did this because he bought up all the forests for wood pulp paper and made even more with his newspaper empire. He caused deforestation North America more than any other individual in our history. Can we did him up and burn him at the stake?(not wood but synthetic non polluting material).
I use my cyber letters for friends and family more than any “real” paper
Small efforts make a big difference. Replacing paper napkins with cloth, paper towels with rags, simply changing philosophies or use and re-use really make a difference. As we buy fewer disposable paper items, fewer pulp trees will be needed. Spread the word – and the habits.