There’s no doubt that we’re all environmentally conscious. We all know the environment’s wellbeing is directly co-related to our wellbeing. Yet, isn’t it ironic that we all read or have magazine or newspaper subscriptions, buy books, print useless stuff at work and continuously waste paper? What’s even more sad is that we actually turn to environmental magazines for news on how to save the environment and print countless material for environmental presentations and conferences.
International Paper, a major Staples supplier, “sold 5.7 million acres of its forestland, which represented nearly 90 percent of our U.S. lands.” The company presently owns about 500,000 acres in the U.S., and they own, manage or have harvesting rights to nearly 2 million acres of forestlands in Brazil and Russia.”
They are asked: “Why not make higher recycled-content paper and minimize harvesting?” They answer: “We agree, and are working to get there. Our industry’s waste reduction record is enviable. We’ve invested billions toward maximizing utilization in our harvesting and manufacturing processes. We now use every bit of the stem of the tree, and we have made important improvements in recycling technology. (Earlier this year, FPAC companies set a collective target to increase paper recovery rates in Canada by 25%)” (Click here for source)
While their efforts are commendable, they obviously must supply and meet the demand. Sadly, when recycled paper is used, price of the magazines or newspapers may rise, which subsequently reduces readership and companies may consider profitability and go back to cutting down trees.
We must remember that every corporation’s number one aim is PROFIT and nothing else. Otherwise they would either cease to exist or be forced to seek costly alternatives. Sure we can recycle the newspapers, magazines and all other useless material but isn’t that a reactive approach? Proactive thinking would be to consider how much would be saved if we all stopped buying and reading magazines, newspapers, and even books and demanded online access to the information?
Time after time, I manage to prove to myself that there’s always room for self-improvement and progress. If we wish the world to change then we must make serious effort and radical changes in our lifestyle and aim to become better at recognizing our own flaws. Only then can we truly say that we are environmentally aware and friendly.
Loba
Tim Henry said,
May 18, 2008 at 9:27 am
I have good news on this I used the services of myjunktree and was able to stop the delivery of the phone books to my home. It was fast and easy. They also stopped all the credit card offers, and catalogs i no longer wanted. I always took the phone books straight to the recycling bin with the rest of my junk mail. I don’t recycle as much stuff anymore, but I stopped it before it gets to me and I think that is even better.
Newspapers - a “waste of trees”? « Emmak89’s Blog said,
March 13, 2009 at 1:22 pm
[...] personally have never thought that much about how much paper, and therefore trees, is wasted on newspapers and magazines before. The amount of paper that is printed, to just be read or even just skimmed through once, then [...]