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Do you think before you print?
Many of us perform our daily tasks because the tasks are part of our lives. Whether it’s a habit, a practice or a necessity, we seldom stop and think what our activities could do to a string of linked consequences. We certainly do not think how by pressing the ‘Print’ button, we would be contributing to a series of deforestation. What cross our minds usually are very practical matters such as “I need to get things done”, “My boss needs this urgently”, “It’s easier to read in hard copies”, etc. And certainly there are people who do not think printer wastage has any consequence on environment. A dot of wastage from everyone can create a whole lot of wastage, just like by pricking a needle on the skin many times, a tattooed design would be generated.
Likewise, paper consumption can be reduced if we want to. A small contribution from each and every one of us towards the awareness of paper wastage can help to cut down office expenditure specifically and environmental consequences generally. Let’s look at some hard facts about paper.
Paper manufacturing is the third largest user of fossil fuels worldwide. [Source: American Forest and Paper Association, (Garner, J.W. Energy Conservation Practices Offer Environmental and Cost Benefits. Pulp & Paper, October 2002)]
Paper manufacturing is the largest industrial user of water per pound of finished product. [Source: American Forest and Paper Association]
115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computers. [Source: Worldwatch Institute]
It is estimated that paper consumption will rise by 50% by 2010. [Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations]
The average daily web user prints 28 pages daily. [Source: Gartner Group and HP]
10 000 trees are cut down annually in China to make holiday cards. [Source: Xinhua News Agency]
700 pounds of paper are consumed by the average American each year. [Source: Environmental Defense Fund, Champion Paper Mills]
Asia has surpassed Eastern Europe in paper consumption and soon will surpass the United States. [Source: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Discussion Paper (IIED,London, September 1996)]
The paperless office, once predicted as a result of information technology (IT), has not transpired. Industry analysts estimate that 95% of business information is still stored on paper. [Source: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Discussion Paper (IIED,London, September 1996)]
Please help to recycle ….
Recycling 54 kg of newspaper will save one tree. [Source: Government of Canada, Digital Collections]
3 cubic yards of landfill can be saved by one ton of recycled paper. [Source: 50 Simple things you Can do to Save the Earth, Jodi B., Sudbury]
77 percent of paper is recycled in the Netherlands. [Source: Washington Post]
67 percent of paper is recycled in Germany. [Source: Worldwatch Institute]
52 percent of paper is recycled in Japan. [Source: Worldwatch Institute]
45 percent of paper is recycled in the U.S. [Source: Worldwatch Institute]
And, one last fact here which is not meant to be sexist or to undermine anyone, a research conducted by Ipsos in the U.K. (2006) stated that 28% of women admit to printing a lot of paper for nothing, compared to just 24% of men.
Love our nature, love our trees …….
Sad
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