Recycle Paper and Help Save the Forests
Paper industry is a major contributor to deforestation of the planet which has a devastating effect on the environment both locally and globally. The entire forests are cut down to be able to meet the demand for paper which dramatically changes the landscape and destroys habitat for a number of local wildlife species. Furthermore, deforestation increases carbon dioxide emissions because trees absorb this harmful gas while releasing pure oxygen. As a result, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere increase with each tree that is cut down.
The solution of the problem with deforestation is in replanting each tree that is cut down but even a better solution is to limit the need to cut down trees in the first place. This can be achieved by reduction of paper consumption as well as recycling of old paper such as junk mail, old newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes, office paper and just about everything that is made from paper. And if each person would separate clean paper from the rest of the waste and put it in the paper recycling bin, billions of trees would be still standing and help the humanity in the fight against the climate change. In addition, production of recycled paper uses considerably less energy than production of virgin paper and further reduces the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
As you see, paper recycling has greater environmental benefits as it may seem at a first glance and by putting all that junk mail, old magazines, cardboard, yesterday’s newspaper, etc. in a separate bin and emptying it when full at the recycling centre, you will save a large amount of trees over the years. In fact, each tonne of collected and recycled paper saves as much as 17 trees and that tonne is collected much earlier than you may think. According to the statistics, an average person in the UK uses more than 200 kilograms of paper per year which means that each person in the UK alone could save more than 3 trees per year, while the entire country would save over 185 million trees if all that paper would be recycled. It is estimated that about 65% of used paper in the UK is collected and recycled which is encouraging although millions more trees could be saved if the percentage of recycled paper would be higher.
In addition to recycling paper, you can also help save the forests by choosing recycled over virgin paper and reducing consumption of paper to the minimum. You do not have to cancel your daily newspaper (although you can also read it online) but you can easily cancel junk mail. Also, you can use cloth towels instead of paper ones and save money at the same time. Using the office paper and the envelops as scrap paper is another way to reduce consumption of paper. And these are only a few of many ways to limit your consumption of paper and save a few more trees.