Less Paper, More Trees…

 

I wonder if paper was not made, what could have been the alternative! What made paper so indispensable writing medium which cannot be replaced totally? So many questions will keep coming up till we have a satisfactory answer. From the early years of human existence, quest for visible representation of one’s thoughts on anything below the sky through several mediums kept evolving till paper was made. It was only from the 19^th century that paper was made from wood pulp and required extensive cutting of trees. Perhaps nobody had thought that this could be disastrous in future since the rate at which trees were being cut, were not replenished to fill the gap. However, trees were not only cut for paper making, but, for several other purposes of human needs. For times immemorial trees were cut to provide firewood as fuel for cooking, lighting, clearing fields for agriculture, constructing houses etc. Towards the 18^th and 19^th century, tree logs were used as fuel to run early locomotives and making paper, rubber furniture etc. Trees are continued to be cut to make space for urbanization due to exploding population all over the world. This has resulted in rapid deforestation and ecological imbalance since innumerable life-species are diminishing or vanishing with it. Human need and greed for wood has not reduced even after ‘reading on the wall!’. One thing that stands out conspicuously is the volume of paper being consumed all over the world in spite of technological advances made and no viable alternative found to replace paper as primary medium for any record keeping. Despite all modern technology, a lot of businesses still have traditional-based filing systems which require considerable space, equipment and maintenance. Paper is all around us and we use it for a countless number of things. With so many people using so much paper all the time, we have to exhaust huge amount of energy and our natural resources to meet this need by cutting down trees and using equipment that pollutes air and water, destroys the homes of numerous animals and contributes to negative changes in our climate.

All of us may have learned this stuff in school but forgotten it- “Trees make oxygen, the air we breathe. They filter out harmful pollutants. They also produce all kinds of edible food and almost all types of fruits. A tree has its own self-replicating technology: it drops seeds each year so that new trees can be born. Many birds and small animals call a tree their home by roosting on them”

When we slash and burn a rainforest, we do irreparable harm to our planet. Rainforests are precious and delicate eco-systems that are simply remarkable on every level. There’s no way for humans to cheaply create, build or invent the machine that does what one common oak, teak, sal or fir tree does. These are just a few of the reasons why it’s so important to save every tree possible. By taking strong actions now, we can ensure that our grandchildren will be able to walk through a lovely forest of aspens or look out on a field of evergreen trees and smell that unmistakable essence of evergreen.

 

Deforestation is the primary effect of our mindless use of paper. Conservation groups have made an admirable headway in protecting ecologically rich forests and limiting commercial access. This is great progress for mankind! Just imagine how long a tree will grow to its full size. We are only just realizing the wasted use of our trees - trees that give off oxygen and protect the planet from further Global Warming. Paper pollution is another effect of paper waste and it’s a serious problem. It was estimated that by 2020, paper mills would be producing 500,000,000 tons of paper and paperboard each year! We obviously need this product and a reduction of use is not in the horizon. Pulp and paper is the 3rd largest industrial polluter of air, water and soil. Chlorine-based bleaches are used during production which results in toxic materials being released into our water, air and soil. When paper rots, it emits methane gas which is 25 times more toxic than CO2. Worldwide consumption of paper has risen by 400% in the past 40 years. Though new trees are being planted around the world, most tree planting is monoculture—the cultivation of a single crop in a given area—which comes with its own set of environmental problems. What’s worse, the pulp and paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for 4% of the entire world's energy use. You also need electricity. In the end, there are numerous direct and indirect costs associated with printing anything. And there are always harmful effects to the environment, such as the pollution caused by a single paper mill. When you add it all up, the cost to print a book includes damage to the eco-system, waste of natural resources, and it adds to the landfills. Instead, let’s all look for ways to reduce our paper usage so we can save as many trees as possible.

Interesting facts you should know:

• By saving a tone of paper, you can save 17 trees, 26000 liters of water, 4000 kilowatt of power supply and 240 liters of fuel.
• A typical office worker produces 160 kilograms of paper waste, 45% of all the papers is thrown away in the course of the day after the printing.
• It takes an average of 5 liters of water to produce one piece of A4 paper.
• Paper accounts for 25% of landfill waste and 33% of municipal waste.
• Every tree produces enough oxygen for 3 people to breathe. 
• 93% of paper comes from trees.
• 50% of the waste of businesses is composed of paper.
• Lessening of paper usage was predicted due to the electronic revolution. It didn’t happen. Demand for paper is expected to double before 2030.
• With some 421.88 million metric tons of paper consumed globally in 2018, the world's paper consumption is roughly equal to the amount of paper produced annually. The largest paper consuming country worldwide is China, which in 2018 consumed more than 100 million metric tons of paper and paperboard followed by the USA which consumed   some 70.6 million metric tons of these products during the same year.

·        Luxembourg is believed to be as the leading paper consuming country per capita globally, at some 277 kilograms of paper consumed per person per year.

• The per capita paper consumption in India at a little over 13 kg, is way behind the global average of 57 kg.

Why is it important to reduce paper use?

To make a difference for the planet and the climate—and to save a lot of money too—reducing our “paper footprint” is perhaps one of best ways to go. By using less paper, you can reduce our direct impact on forests, reduce energy use and climate change emissions, limit water, air and other pollution and produce less waste. Reducing our demand for paper will also help lessen the social impacts and human rights abuses linked to paper production. We know that use of paper in our daily life is indispensable, but, reducing or limiting its use is possible through many innovative means. Here are some possible and practical ways we can cut our paper consumption for good at grass root level and save a ton of money in the process.

1.    Print all the information you need on both sides.

2.    Think before you print. Do you really need to print it? Many people have the habit of just clicking the print button whenever they want to read something. This is incredibly wasteful. Reading on a screen isn’t perfect either, but it doesn’t waste paper needlessly. If you have trouble reading on a screen, try enlarging the font in your browser preferences.

3.    Find alternatives to paper. When possible, use digital services - write emails instead of letters, and encourage others to follow your example.

4.    Buy recycled paper, when you need it. It may not be as pretty as a 100% virgin copier paper, but it serves the same purpose. You can write on it.

5.    Reduce the use of paper cups and disposable paper plates by keeping reusable items in the office pantry.

6.    Take advantage of the latest technologies like tablets, computers and smart phones to keep your files and notes.

7.    Choose products which contain as less packaging as possible, including both paper and other materials.

8.    Use cloth napkins and handkerchiefs instead of paper ones. Paper napkins and towels have to be thrown away after usage, but cloth is easy to wash and reusable.

9.    Use old newspaper for eco-friendly gardening. Did you know that newspaper can help to keep weeds from growing in your garden and eliminate the need for chemicals and other environmentally destructive products created to keep weeds away? Use paper as compost material. Use paper to give back to the Mother Earth. Various types of paper can be used when composting to enrich the soil and encourage plants to grow.

10. During the occasion of any celebration or event, everyone buys wrapping paper to conceal gifts. Gift wrapping usually cannot be discarded, but we can cut back on this waste of paper by using fabric and reusable gift bags. So, let us develop the habit of wrapping gifts without paper. 

11. Did you know there are alternative ways to make paper without using trees? Buy treeless paper products to show our concern and support for the cause and value what many organizations and companies are doing for sustainable development and environment.

12.Least we can do is to talk about it. Explain to friends, families, and co-workers how much of the forest is being destroyed at such a rapid pace to produce paper. This may encourage them to use less paper, recycle, and make more eco-friendly purchases.

In general, going paperless helps businesses save space and money, boost productivity and keep information more secure while also making sharing it easier. Besides, paperless offices help the environment: the less paper we use, the less trees are chopped down to make it. By using less paper, you can reduce your impact on forests, cut energy use and climate change emissions, limit water, air and other pollution and produce less waste. In order to step closer to the goal of reducing the use of paper in our daily life. Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) launched an annual campaign to reduce the amount of paper generated by people in their everyday work and personal life. It fixed 6^th November as “World Paper Free Day” aimed at attracting attention of the humanity to the modern paperless technologies which help us save forests. It was launched in order to raise awareness of huge amount of paper used in vain and to promote paperless technologies. On this day, businesses and people are encouraged to stop using paper for one day in order to stop being so reliant on paper.

                 “Use paper with care, so our trees don’t become rare”