Paper Trail

The question of how many sheets of paper are made from one tree popped up recently on our Environment Committee’s web forum. I decided to search for the answer and could not stop exploring the topic long after I had found the answer. The facts were so grim, the realities so shocking. The brief answer to the question is that one tree yields 1.67 carton or 8350 sheets. But there is so much more implied in that question. Yes, it is easy to figure out that 24 trees are hacked down for a ton of copier paper and 12 trees for newsprint, but it is hard to envisage the long trail that our use of paper leaves behind. We use paper as if it were a cheap commodity. But we do not realize the real cost of paper production and its rampant use.

When I looked into the details of how paper is used in our modern society I realized that printing activity, either in the media or in the corporate world, is not the only enterprise that uses large amounts of paper—although it ranks highest on the list. The use of paper for commercial and industrial packaging and as cleaning material in our homes, offices and shops too is accountable for its increased consumption in present times. From banknotes to newspapers and books, from an e-mail printouts to a memos or reports, from corrugated boxes to wallpapers and gift wrappings, and from paper towels to cat litter and toilet paper, in modern times paper can be found in every nook and corner of our post-modern society. Yet we forget that the raw material for all that paper comes from only one source–plant life. The same way our vegetation supports us biologically by purifying the air we breathe and by supplying the food we eat, it is the plant fiber that provides us with the pulp we turn into different kinds of paper. To obtain that pulp we hack down the trees and add to the gravity of deforestation and its drastic consequences.

When we make paper we not only lose trees, we also contaminate our environment and consume precious energy resources. To produce five sheets of 8 x 11 inch paper we use the equivalent energy of an 80 watt bulb operating for an hour; but at a cost far greater than that of electricity. According to the National Wildlife Federation, “pulp and paper production ranks among the most resource-intensive and highly polluting of all manufacturing industries … ranking fourth among industrial sectors in emissions of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals to water, and third in such releases to air.” The report further considers the paper industry as being “responsible for the release of persistent toxic pollutants like chlorine, mercury, lead and phosphorus into the environment, resulting in a legacy of health problems including cancers, nerve disorders, and fertility problems.” Such harmful pollution does not stop after the production stage. It follows the paper all along its trail.

An Australian research team has found that office workers face a potential health threat, ranging from respiratory irritation to effects on their cardiovascular system and cancer from office laser printers that emit large amounts of tiny toxic particles into air. The trouble does not stop here either. Instead of being properly recycled much of the paper burdens our ever sparser landfills. Even recycling is not without problems. On one hand it adds to the financial burden and on the other it requires the use of dangerous chemicals for the treatment of the disposed paper. We pay a high cost for the privilege of using paper and it is a pity that we take it for granted.

Comparing trends of deforestation and paper use may help us to sharpen our focus on the problem. NASA’s website claims that “expanding global markets for rainforest timber and pulpwood” are one of the causes for deforestation. The increase in deforested areas goes hand in hand with the increase in paper usage. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reported that from 1990 to 2005, in the tropical belt, deforestation ranged from 20 percent to 60 percent. A parallel, although unrelated study by the Canadian Pulp and Paper Product Council showed an increase of paper use from 3.455 million tons to 4.766 million tons in the period from 1990 to 2000.
That is an increase of about 38 percent. A study in the USA indicates a ten-fold increase in the use of paper in the last century. Interestingly, the correlation between human activity and its impact on the environment becomes clearer when we look at an example showing a reversal of trend of deforestation in Brazil. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently reported that Brazil experienced an 11 percent decrease in deforestation citing decreased demand for such crops as the reason. Obviously, even greater reduction is possible if we curtail our use of paper.

With advances in technology, and in particular with the coming of the age of information technology, we find ourselves in the midst of unbridled consumption of paper. This adds to the problem of environmental degradation. Production and consumption of paper are responsible for pollution of our air and waters and for deforestation and contributes to climate change and disappearance of plant and animal species. Is it hard to imagine that in the final analysis we may consider ourselves among those endangered species? Once we realize the true cost we pay for that sheet of printing paper, that roll of toilet paper, or that cardboard box, we will never look at them the same way. The paper we so conveniently get for pennies costs us dearly in terms of health, environment and well-being. No less than our children’s future is at stake!


Ten Commandments of Paper Conservation
1. Do not subscribe to newspapers.
2. Instead, use libraries or subscribe to Internet newsletters and feeds.
(Newspapers include a large number of flyers and advertisements that most often end up in the bin unread.)
3. Do not print unless it is absolutely required.
4. Instead, save everything electronically and make a backup copy onto a CD or USB.
(In offices, people print all types of trivial matter.)
5. Print on both sides of the paper.
(Duplex function is available with most the printers.)
6. Use discarded paper as scrap paper for handwritten notes.
7. Prudently use cleaning papers: kitchen rolls, paper towels, toilet papers.
(People have clogged toilet bowls with excessive use of toilet paper.)
8. Reuse packing material.
9. Recycle, recycle, and recycle.
10. Be a role model for future generations in paper conservation endeavour.