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Friday, November 9, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF PRINTED PAPER
Today's paper fact blog was found on and reprinted from the website of www.PrintGrowsTrees.org
Printed 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.
54.7 percent of all paper in the U.S. is currently recycled.
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. 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, and current systems are still in the early stages.
The average data center serving our electronic devices consumes the same amount of energy as 25,000 households.
The paper we use to print in the U.S. is made from more than 60 percent biofuels. Paper mills use what’s left over from the manufacturing process to generate bioenergy on site. This serves to:
- Divert waste from landfills
- Decrease the overall carbon footprint of paper products
- Decrease dependency on coal and other fossil fuels
- Help meet green energy goals in America
By contrast, server farms that power computers have become the fastest growing users of fossil fuel in the world, and the amount of energy they use is doubling every year.
Modern commercial printing employs more sustainable practices. From recycling to energy usage, commercial printers are making great strides in reducing their environmental footprints by implementing such practices as:
- Purchasing products, materials and services from individuals and organizations that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability
- Gaining third-party certification credentials
- Reducing the impact of chemicals by using vegetable-based inks, eco-friendly soy inks, alcohol-free chemistry and aqueous coatings
- Sequencing print jobs by ink color, saving ink changes and waste
- Using biodegradable packaging materials and waste paper instead of petroleum-based foam peanuts
- Using a higher percentage of paper grades that are recycled, post-consumer and third-party forest certified to be from responsible sources
- Reducing the impact of energy loads on the electric grid by staggering production start times and effectively avoiding operating at full load during peak run time hours
- Using alternative power, such as wind or solar, in many locations where it is available
- Educating employees on environmental information, recycling procedures and certification training
- Equipping presses with ink monitoring devices to reduce waste
- Recycling printing plates, soda cans, cell phones, batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, old computer equipment, tin, glass and plastics
Find out more by visiting this fine organizations website: www.PrintGrowsTrees.org
PGAMA is the not-for-profit trade association serving the graphic communications industry in Northern Virginia, Maryland, Greater Washington, D.C. and Southern Pennsylvania. They represent the interests of over 350 member firms.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
How Many Trees Will You Use Today?
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As a forester for a paper company, I’m often asked how much paper we can make from one tree.
My answer? It depends. Here’s why:
First, it’s not often that one entire tree is used for paper. Most trees are harvested for multiple products, with the highest-quality portions going into furniture and building materials that bring the highest price to the landowner. Paper is made from the lower-quality wood (“pulpwood”) that is left over.
Second, the initial step in preparing logs for pulping is to remove the bark. Depending on the type of tree, bark can account for 10-20 percent of a tree’s volume. (Paper manufacturers don’t throw the bark away; we either burn it to produce biomass energy or sell it for mulch).
Third, different types of trees provide different quantities of pulp. This varies by species (hardwood, softwood and aspen) and subspecies (for example, red pine, jack pine or white pine).
Fourth, different types of paper — tissue, book, digital — require different volumes or densities of pulp. Even within grades, there are different weights of paper, which require more or less wood fiber.
So, how can you equate paper or other forest products to raw wood? Let’s use the unit of pulpwood measurement called a “cord.” This refers to a stack of logs four feet tall, four feet deep and eight feet long, and typically weighing a total of 2.5 tons.
The average cord of wood could produce either:
• 1,000-2,000 pounds of paper, depending on grade
• 12 eight-seat dining room table sets
• 250 copies of the Sunday New York Times
• 4,000 half-gallon milk cartons
• 4.3 million postage stamps, or
• 7.5 million toothpicks
For additional perspective, building an 1,800-square-foot home requires the equivalent of about 20 cords of wood.
I hope you’ll agree that these statistics point out the incredible diversity of trees, the importance they hold in our society — and just how fortunate we are to have this incredible, renewable resource available to us. Americans have been utilizing vast quantities of wood for more than 200 years, and thanks to sustainable forest management, our forests remain plentiful and healthy, providing wood for forest products, habitat for wildlife, and lands for recreation, all while pulling greenhouse gases from our air. As the Society of American Foresters says, “Trees are the answer!”
Finch Paper LLCOne Glen StreetGlens Falls, NY 12801
1-800-833-9983
info@finchpaper.com
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