Paper and Printing Industries Saving Forests

Another common-sense approach...

Paper and Printing Industries Saving Forests

   We were encouraged by the interest shown in last month’s Overnight Lite story about Copresco’s common–sense “green” business practices.
   Some people who believed that we will save trees if we stop using paper were amazed at how really green our digital printing process is.
   Here are more particulars about this important subject.

Attitude Adjustment

There are a number of initiatives underway to change our country’s misconceptions about the paper and printing industries.
By 2012, the paper industry’s goal is to recover 60% of all the paper that Americans consume for recycling, which is about 60 million tons of paper.

Slashing Pollution

Using old paper to make new paper uses 30% to 50% less energy than making paper from trees. Pollution is also reduced by 95% when used paper is made into new sheets.

Print Grows Trees

PGAMA, a not–for–profit, graphic communications trade association, has come up with a powerful educational campaign with facts to show that print actually helps grow trees and keeps forests from being sold for development.

Supporting Evidence

The Print Grows Trees campaign shows that supporting print on paper gives landowners the financial incentive they need to keep America’s woodlands safe from development and managed in a sustainable manner. This contributes many ecosystem benefits such as water, wildlife and carbon sequestration.
The following facts and figures are the courtesy of PGAMA.

Pressure Points

Age, demographics and financial pressures are causing the owners of almost 60% of America’s woodlands to sell or transfer their land at an alarming rate. An average of 4,000 acres of forest is being converted to development every day of the year, year after year.

Environmental Benefits

Print paper is made from a renewable resource. Trees can be replanted in places where they were harvested and also in places where they don’t currently grow. As much as we love our electronic devices, they don’t grow on trees or anywhere else.

Renewable and Reusable

Printed paper can be recycled, recovered and reused. The systems that are in place for these processes are widely available and have become more efficient and sophisticated over the many years they have existed.

High Cost to Toss

In contrast, electronic devices are much more complex and expensive to recycle, recover and reuse due to the toxic nature of many of their components.
The average data center serving our electronic devices consumes the same amount of energy as 25,000 households —every day of the year.

Bioenergy Generation

The process for making print paper in the United States utilizes more than 60% biofuels. Paper mills even use what’s left over from the manufacturing process to generate bioenergy on site.
So, you can see that paper companies are saving forests, not destroying them, by diverting waste from landfills, decreasing the overall carbon footprint of paper products and decreasing dependency on coal and other fossil fuels.

Huge Fuel Guzzlers

By contrast, server farms powering computers are the fastest growing users of fossil fuel in the world, and the energy they use doubles every year.

A Much Better Answer

   When a book is printed, the energy is used just one time. There’s no further environmental cost...forever.
   So, when you need on–demand printing, call the company that leads the way in quality, service and commonsense green business practices.
   Call Copresco.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Copresco will be closed Thursday, November 25 and Friday, November 26 for Thanksgiving.

Internet Addresses

For more printing and paper facts and figures:
http://www.printgrowstrees.com

Electronic waste is deadly. Suggestions for responsible reuse and recycling:
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling

An informative source for environmental paper info:
http://www.conservatree.com

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