Click on the above images to obtain larger, printable images.
Background:
In the US alone,
99% of virgin fiber used in the manufacture of paper comes from
trees
About 90 million
tons of paper are consumed in the US every year, i.e. about 700
pounds per person
Paper consumption
is rising mainly because of the ease of reproducing information
with the use of computer printers and photocopiers
24 trees are
used to make 1 ton of paper
Why should we be concerned
about paper use/consumption?
Environmental
concerns
High
forest and land-use impacts: almost half of all the trees cut
down are used up in the paper manufacturing business
Pulping and
bleaching processes emit about 1000 deleterious compounds; these
include dioxin which is the most toxic and persistent substance
on Earth
Excessive
build-up of paper wastes dumped in landfills (about 40-50%)
Printing and
writing paper dumped into a landfill could have been recycled
up to a dozen more times, saving trees, water and energy and reducing
pollution each time.
What can you do - Paper
Efficiency:
Be conscious
when printing – do not print everything you see
For example, we often print emails with information that can
be otherwise written down (i.e contact information, important
dates, event, etc.).
Make good use of your PDA (Palm Pilot, etc.) by downloading
email messages.
Increase email use.
Instead
of printing out important emails for filing purposes, consider
digital storage methods.
Exercise
patience when waiting for print jobs at the computer labs
Reuse
paper that has been used on one side as scratch paper: do
not reuse in the printer
Reuse
sheets of paper that have already been used on one side for writing
draft essays
Reduce the size
of images when copying and printing
Edit and proof
read on the computer screen as much as possible before printing
When printing
Power Point Slides, print multiple slides per page when possible
When printing
in the computer labs, limit your print jobs to the number of pages
that is specified by computer lab rules (e.g. 20 pages per print
job)
Copy
and paste the relevant information into a Word document and print
the Word file. This not only saves paper, but print time is reduced
because the print source is on the local computer
When
printing from the Web, some sites sometimes offer the PDF (Portable
Document Format) (or other printer friendly option). The PDF method
of printing usually saves paper and is more accurate. If this printing
option is available, print the PDF files as these files are paper
and printer friendly
Store files on
floppies, hard drives, CD, CD-RW, CD-R, zips
The amount of paper that
has been recycled at RU has decreased drastically over the past 2
years (from 14 tons to 2 tons)
Increase recycling
– dispose of paper in the correct bins
Nearly all types
of paper and paper products of any color can be recycled – computer
paper, notebook paper, manila, newsprint, magazines, junk mail,
envelopes
Do not place
paper towels, tissue, plastic, pressed cardboard or wax-coated paper
in recycling bins.
