7/24/14

How much paper does a tree produce?

     Answering this question is not easy because the answer depends on a number of variables, such as the density of the wood, the size of the tree, and the type of pulping process used. Recently, however, the Sierra Club published a response to such an inquiry, estimating that a single 8 inch diameter tree produces about 10,000 – 20,000 sheets of paper. Other numbers I’ve seen range as high as 100,000 sheets per tree. This may not sound like many trees necessary to meet consumption, but when you consider that the U.S. alone produced nearly 21 million tons of paper last year, this amounts to millions upon millions of trees. According to the American Forest & Paper Association, about 60% of the paper consumed in the U.S. is recovered  each year for recycling. Though this is good news, it leaves much room for improvement.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
     Every ton of paper recovered for recycling saves approximately 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, and 4,000 kilowatts of energy (enough to power the average U.S. home for six months!). That said, reducing paper consumption translates to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as well, thus lessening the impacts of climate change.

Not Simply for “Tree-Huggers”

     It is important to highlight that recycling is not simply a “tree-hugging”, “eco freak” measure to save the forests, but rather to protect human health as well. Paper mills are highly polluting operations around which many human populations reside. For every one ton reduction of paper consumed there is a corresponding reduction in air and water pollution. So reduce your paper consumption when you can, and recycle your used paper ALWAYS!


10 Tips to Reduce Paper Waste

1)    Copy on both sides of the paper.
2)    Adjust fonts, margins, and spacing to fit more text on a single sheet.
3)    Use lighter weight paper. Lighter paper requires less energy and fewer raw materials when it's manufactured.
4)    Reuse paper that has been printed on one side. It can be used as scratch paper or for printing internal memos.
5)    Use email and voice instead of hard prints when possible.
6)    Eliminate unnecessary subscriptions. Cancel newspapers, newsletters, and magazines you don't read or can access online, and take your name off mailing lists to reduce junk mail.
7)    Use electronic data storage instead of hard copy files.
8)    Use recycled-content, chlorine-free paper products, and use soy or other agri-based inks for printing projects.
9)    Place recycling bins near high-traffic areas such as conference rooms, kitchens, photocopy rooms, and fax areas in your office building.

10) Conduct a "paper" audit to determine the kind and volume of paper waste your company generates, then take steps to lessen such waste. 

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9 comments:

  1. After reading this blog post, one new thing I learned which is also very interesting is that paper mills cause pollution. I had no idea making paper involved pollution. Now my efforts to reuse, reduce, and recycle will definitely be taken more seriously as I know it can effect human health as well. Although an average tree produces 10,000-20,000 sheets of paper, given how many billion people on earth use paper, that seems scary because that means we kill thousands of trees. What are some other alternatives to paper? Aside from electronics, I would love to know if anyone has ever thought of a new and better source?

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  2. At least one thing new and interesting you learned from the article.
    At least one question that you have relating to the article or topic

    Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, trees, logging, and paper mills are a part of everyday life. Paper mills produce obnoxious smells, but I always associate the smell with home as there was a mill outside of the town I grew up in and I always knew we were almost home when I could smell the mill. I never put a whole lot of thought into the amount of paper that each tree produces and it's interesting to see that it's really not that much! Working in office settings, I constantly see that people are wasteful when it comes to their paper consumption. Maybe if paper was more expensive, people and companies would think a little more about how much they use. I wonder why we are not more aware of the amount of effect that paper making has on the environment and doing more to figure out a better solution. Paper does not need to be made out of trees, and there are multiple companies out there making it out of other fibers such as bamboo and hemp. It just seems to make sense to come up with better alternatives than trees.

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  3. Shahir,
    I enjoyed this article especially because I am a huge advocate in reducing the use or unnecessary use of paper and if it can be printed double-sided then I will do that. One thing that I learned or took away was what it takes to make paper and how one tree can make so much paper but still how much we still consume. I know in healthcare we are transitioning to an EMR yet we still consume so much paper. A question I have is what goes into recycling paper and how is recycled paper defined as? I am curious if some paper companies use only partially recycled paper and can advertise that there paper is recycled so people are more likely to purchase their paper.
    Araceli Harris

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  4. Araceli, in regards to your question I can try and answer it based upon my knowledge. First off, I agree with everything you stated in your comment. Its very great news to know that medical fields are transitioning into EMR, but you're right, thats still not enough. From my understanding your question is asking what is recycled paper and what are the standards, if any, the companies have to meet in order to label it "recycled paper". Well one thins is for sure, not all recycled paper has equal proportions of "recycled" scraps. We can see this just by looking at them. Some are more brown, coarse, and thick, while others are lighter in color, smoother, and thinner. There are many marketing terms used to fool customer such as "natural paper" and "paper from sustainable forestry. The standard we use currently is environmental star ratings and labels such as "Blue Angel". The percentages clearly should state how many percent of the paper comes from recycling and the label indicates the paper has the highest environmental credentials. The minimum percentage needed in order for companies to stamp the label on their product, is 51%. I have seen a lot of papers that state 100% recycled paper and those are the ones as I mentioned earlier that are more uneven and darker, so it wouldn't be practical to use in a professional setting which is unfortunate. Hope that answered your question!

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  5. I had not realized that the United States has reclaimed 60% of its paper supply; I was assuming something much lower than that. I do believe however that we use that much paper in just a year. One thing I had not really considered is the amount of pollution that is avoided by simply recycling. I am not referring to just the electricity or air pollution that is avoided. I am also referring to the chemical pollution and any other environmental damage that is avoided by not chopping down another tube. Sure, there are still several chemicals that are required for turning old newspapers into brand new A4. However, so much more energy is conserved, and more chemicals not used by recycling. Just watching those "How It's Made" documentaries will reveal that there are savings even at the transportation and distribution level. Thinking about this topic, I am now looking to the future. What sort of medium could possibly ever replace paper?

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. I have been recycling paper and plastics for years, but reading this article has provided me with more information as to how recycling paper is so beneficial to the economy, the ecosystem, and human health. Most importantly, I have learned that recycling paper can decrease the emission of greenhouse gases into the air, and can save the United States economy millions of dollars on paper expenditures, which can alternatively purchase sustainable energy in American homes. It is excellent that the United States has increased its recycling efforts to 60 percent per year, however, increasing further participation in recycling behaviors will allow our nation to take more steps towards being an eco-friendly, and environmentally healthy nation. One question that I have after reading this article is: Does using chlorine-free, soy, or agriculture-based paper products have an effect on printing materials? For example, does it make the words on the paper appeared blurry or with lighter font, or does it have an effect on the printer itself?

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  8. Well after doing a little research, I found a site called plan it green printing- Earth-Friendly Printing. Own their site you can actually see samples of their work and it looks just as vibrant and deep in color as chlorine based printing.
    This particular company also prints desolveabe labels, tree- free labels and recycled paper labels. The tree free labels are made from bamboo, bag ass and cotton-linters. The recycled labels are printed with soy vegetableź based ink and digitally low V.O.C toner on 30% post consumer waste paper (pcw).
    Both products were very colorful and looked just as good as other printing naterials. The coolest one, the desolveabe labels were created for Nebraska fish and game to place seed blocks in burned areas. Well when it rainS the labels desolveS leaving no trace or residue.the labels are made from wood cellulose and causes no harm to the environment. Some other alternative printing options they use is corn and beets. I hope this helps it looks like green printing is as good as the bad stuff...

    C.Jones COH 608

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  9. Well after doing a little research, I found a website called plan it green printing- Earth-Friendly Printing. On their site you can actually see samples of their work and it looks just as vibrant and deep in color as chlorine based printing.
    This particular company also prints desolveabe labels, tree- free labels and recycled paper labels. The tree free labels are made from bamboo, bag asse and cotton-linters. The recycled labels are printed with soy vegetable based ink and digitally low V.O.C toner on 30% post consumer waste paper (pcw).
    Both products were very colorful and looked just as good as other printing materials. The coolest one, the desolveabe labels were created for Nebraska Fish and Game to place seed blocks in burned areas, when it rains the labels desolves leaving no trace or residue. The labels are made from wood cellulose and causes no harm to the environment. Some other alternative printing options that is used is corn and beets. I hope this helps it looks like green printing is as good as the bad stuff...

    REDO I FOUND ERRORS c. JONES COH608

    ReplyDelete