Description

Learn about the effect of making paper on our environment and discover methods of reducing paper waste. Why should you change your paper habits? What alternate types of sources are used for paper making? What can you do to reduce your paper footprint?

Transcript

Male Speaker: The Americans use significantly more paper than citizens in other countries. If this US family lived in England for example, their paper use would be about 30% less, and if they live in Mexico, paper use would be about 80% less. Male Speaker: This is only one building. Can you imagine when you go down the next one, well all the high raised buildings, huge. Dr. Thomas Henningsen: The ancient forest preserves and keeps the climate stable, the climate changes cause by forest destruction on the global scale. 80% of all ancient forests is already destroyed, the only 20% is left and of this 20%, we are still losing every second-second an area of the size of the soccer fields. Big part of the forest destruction is caused by the paper industry. George Milner: Paper-making business is very resource intensive. We use a lot of minerals, we use a lot of fiber comes out of trees, we use a tremendous amount of water. Male Speaker: Only about one-half of the paper we throw away is recycled. When paper sticking our table, it releases methane contributing to climate change. Daniel M. Brucker: As soon as we introduced our newspaper recycling program, add on the train platforms, it was an immediate success. People immediately passed by the garbage bins, took their papers with them off the trains, and put them in these newspaper recycling bins. Every single day, we are recycling five tons of newspaper print. That's a weight of nearly four automobiles every single day. Bette Fishbein: It makes a big difference if government sets the right policies. Government can require the products or purchases, paper for example have a very high level of recycled content. Germany passed a packaging ordinance in 1991 which makes producers responsible for their packages. Right after the German Law was passed, the secondary packages were dropped. For example, the box on the toothpaste tubes. If you went to the supermarket, you would see the tubes on the shelves without the outer box. Male Speaker: Honestly, if I were to throw something, I'd use a paper towel. I will probably change that, yeah. Male Speaker: What are other ways you can reduce your paper waste? Sign up for services that reduce Junk Mail, e-bills online and use double-sided printing when they print or copy. Female Speaker: I don't necessarily seek out for a recycled product. Male Speaker: I always buy paper in a rush, so I never pay attention. Bette Fishbein: Consumers should realize that they really have a lot of power in determining what products that are actually on the market. Every time a consumer picks a product with recycled content, they're casting a vote for the environment. Here is a choice that is offering a lot of good things to the environment. We have 100% recycle paper, it is acid free, it's processed chlorine free, and it has the FSC logo. Female Speaker: I use recycle paper because I think it's very important. Male Speaker: Along the consumers, industry can promote sustainable choices. Magazine and book publishers can cast a vote for the environment, by using more recycle paper and wood fibre certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. George Milner: In the late 1990s, we have been thinking of our business as being sustainable about the environmental benefits of using recycle fibre and using renewable energy. In the process of doing that, currently we are saving about a million and half dollars a year, a portion of which we can use for other environmental initiatives. Dr. Thomas Henningsen: We need to look for other solutions. One is promoting a solution that fibre don't come from trees but come from alternatives. We need to see if it works technically and we need to see if it really can be an alternative and a solution. But, the main part has to come from recycling paper. We cannot use paper from ancient forests anymore. There is no need to make toilet paper out of wonderful hundred years old trees. Male Speaker: Spread the word, save trees and reduce greenhouse emissions by recycling paper and by buying recycled paper products. And remember, just use less.