Print and Paper Have A Great Environmental Story To Tell
Paper and Printed Materials Are Environmenttally Damaging Is a Big Fat Lie.
I am pretty fed up with the myths about printed materials.Banks,utilities,
telcos and even Google are trying to get you to'go green and save the environment'
with electronic bills. In actual fact it is unfairly used to guilt you into not using printed materials.
Interestingly, they never mentionhow much non-renewable power data centres go through each day.
It is pretty easy to imagine virgin forest being cut down, cute cuddly animals being displaced and ecosystems ruined simply baecause
we chooose to print out a few pages.
Whatis far harder to imagine is the idea that sitting on a computer hitting the send button is burning up non-renewable energy,
destroying the ozone layer and adding greenhouse gas to the environment.
As the debate over protecting our environment continues a heap of myths and untruths have emerged- particularly in relationto paper.
But paper actually ha a great environmental story to tell.
The Dark Side Of Online
What the seemingly environmentally concious folks often gloss over when shoving the benefits of being green and online is some of
the folllowing not so fun facts.
In Australia alone, more than 234 million items of E-waste (discarder/oblsolete electronic /electrical equipment) end up in landfill
each year. In any absence of e-waste recycling programs, e-waste volumes areforecast to triple by 2020 Y ep, There is a price to pay
to getting a new PC every three years or buying an office printer that needs replacing after 12 months.
Don't let someone guilt you into not using printed materials to be green.
Busting The Myths About Eliminating Paper To Save The Environment
- A huge amount of energy is consumed in the prooduction of paper.
- Everything uses energy including paper production but it is what is put back that counts.
Sustainably managed forest are basically carbon neutral.
The paper plant in Maryvale, Victoria makes enough renewable low carbon energy to power the equivalent of 50,000
homes as by product of making paper.
- Print and paper is wasteful.
Paper is not only renewable but recycable too
-just like this newsletter thanks to a generous donation of recycled paper by Domain Paper.
95% of Astralian Households recycle or reuse their paper products.
Paper is one of the most recycled products in the world.
- Making Paper is bad for the environment and destroys forest.
- Paper is mostly made from treees harvested from sustainabl managed forest. Besically for every tree the paper industry cuts down
in a managed forest 3 or more are planted to replace it.
Australia's forestry plantations have doubled from about 1 million hectars in 1994 to 2 million hectars in 2010.
- "Please coonsider the environment before printing thisemail. Be GREEN & read from the SCREEN!"- we've all seen this one
in email footers.
- Printing a 700 page document emits at most 85 grams of CO2, while using a computer for just 1 hour emits 226 grams of CO2.
Reading an actual newspaper can consume 20% less carbon than viewing news online.
Burning to CD or DVD is estimated to email from 300 to 350 grams of CO2 for every copy.
Have you been Greenwashed?
In a UK survey conducted by Two Sides in November 2010, 43% of Banks, 70% Utilities and 30%Telecoms were making unsubtantaited'green',
'e-billing is better for the environment', claims
On being challenged by Two Sides, 82% of these 'greenwash' maessages were removed or amended. Think before you accept your
electronic statements from the banks, telcos, and utilities.
At Cariss Printing we've decided to buck the trend and you'll start seeing this on our email footers:
It really is OK to print email. Please don't feel guilty. Paper is a renewable recycable, biodegradable and sustainable product made
from trees.Sustainable forest that grow and harvest these trees provide jobs for millions of men and women. These sustainable forest
provide clean air and importantly carbor storage to actually help our environment.