Save the Planet - Use Less Paper

Paper is one of the oldest commercial products in human history. It's so common we don't think twice about its origin, manufacturing process or how much of it we use. Unfortunately, paper is the single largest component of municipal solid waste and it accounts for more than 1/3 of the entire composition of our landfills. Add to that the array of toxic substances used in its production and you begin to see how heavy a toll our consumption of paper takes on the environment.

The commercial production of virgin paper uses or produces vast amounts of the following:

Caustic Sodium Hydroxide

Sodium Sulfide

Hydrogen Sulfide (Broad-spectrum poison - smells like rotten eggs)

Sulfur Dioxide (Major cause of acid-rain)

Dioxins (One of the most toxic man-made chemicals)

Fossil Fuels (Large mills often have their own internal power plants)

Carbon Monoxide

Ammonia

Nitrogen Oxide

Mercury

Nitrates

Methanol

Benzene

Chlorine

Each of these substances on their own can have a tremendous impact on our environment and our selves. But taken together we can see the caustic swamp that paper production is. We all have a great impetus to use less of it and here are some ideas how:

Don't use paper plates. The energy that it takes to produce a single paper plate is far greater than what it takes to clean a regular plate.

Get your news on-line. Newspapers and magazines are great to hold in our hands and browse through, but they are outdated as soon as they come off the press. A free service like Google News gives you up-to-the-minute news without causing any paper-relater pollution.

Don't print something unless you need to. We all tend to print off anything that seems important and comes in via email or the web. Most of this stuff winds up in the trash can anyway, so save a step and don't print something unless you know you need a hard copy.

Use recycled paper products made with high amounts of post-consumer waste. This is the best way to make use of paper that's already been made and cut down on the demand for new paper.

Don't use paper towels. Cloth towels work better and don't produce landfill fodder.