To refresh our memories from my last article, most of us are aware that by reducing our paper use, we can also dramatically reduce greenhouse gases. For those of us who still do not understand the correlation between paper and climate change, here are a few facts:
It takes trees to make paper…lots of them. Trees are the planet’s “filters”. A tree takes in carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas which is the major factor in global warming) and produces live-giving oxygen. According to Conservatree, just 1 carton (10 reams) of 100% virgin copier paper uses .6 trees, and 1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets. Now, let’s factor in pulp processing. Besides the tremendous energy usage to operate these paper mills (that’s more greenhouse gases), the converting of pulp to paper takes a tremendous amount of water which also has to be reprocessed and re-filtered…again, more energy and greenhouse gases. And last, the inks. Most printing is still performed with petroleum and solvent based inks. Not only does that keep our country dependent on oil, but these inks contain toxins which can eventually end up leeching into public water supplies through old landfills.
So, let’s get back to how we can rid ourselves of the most common annoyance and help the cause: junk mail. Nobody wants it, we did not ask for it, yet it continues to show up in our mailboxes, day after day. In fact, the organization 41pounds.org estimates that weight to be the amount of junk mail every American receives in just one year. I even tried to sort through the junk mail for those mail pieces and catalogs that can be recycled, but this is time consuming, and I realized, most people simply will toss these items. Most junk mail gets thrown out with the trash, and ends up in landfills. Here is just some of the impact:
• More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. 42% of timber harvested nationwide becomes pulpwood for paper.
• The world’s temperate forests absorb 2 billion tons of carbon annually. Creating and shipping junk mail produces more greenhouse gas emissions than 9 million cars.
• About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk mail each year.
There is an easy solution: www.catalogchoice.org offers a free service wherein you can use their website to unsubscribe from various mailings. As mentioned earlier, www.41pounds.org , also offers, for a nominal fee, a comprehensive unsubscription program to help you in stopping that annoying flow of unwanted catalogs, coupons, credit card offers, and just about anything else you do not wish to see in your mailbox.
You can do yourself a favor and help your community and planet in the process. Now, can someone tell me how I can stop that endless flow of junk e-mail? I will be looking for that answer! In the meantime, watch for my next article as it is not only about Going Green, but also includes little known health facts about many of the products we buy.
Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .
