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Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
"No one person has to do it all but if each
one of us follow our heart and our own inclinations we will find the small things
that we can do to create a sustainable future and a healthy environment."
~ John Denver
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Tree Free Paper
November 2002
Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/1102-tree-free-paper.html
From its invention in China in 105 A.D. until very recently, paper was made from plant
fibers, like hemp and cotton, or from textile waste. That changed when the wood pulping process was invented
in the 19th century, not because wood produced a superior product, but because it solved the problem of scarce
raw materials. At the time, most paper in the Western world was made from rags, but supplies were hard to come
by. Trees, on the other hand, were plentiful particularly in North America with its vast forests. It seemed
like the perfect solution.
Today, we know different. Many of the world's biologically-rich forests are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Each year an area of tropical forest the size of New York state is lost. A major cause is the expansion of
industrial tree plantations, which supply pulp to meet worldwide demand for paper products.
Tree-free production technology is better than ever. In developing countries, a third of the paper produced is
already tree-free, according to U.N. estimates, and there is now a budding, if small, tree-free paper industry
emerging in the West. The materials used are:
CROPS, including kenaf, an African plant which makes an excellent paper pulp; hemp, a versatile
plant and a component in the first papers ever made; flax, the plant used to make linen; and cotton.
AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES, or crop leftovers, such as rice and wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, banana
stalk fiber and grass clippings.
COTTON RAGS, as in the days just before wood became the raw material of choice.
The benefits of using non-wood sources extend beyond saving trees and forest habitat. The production process
is itself more environmentally sound, requiring fewer chemicals and less energy.
That said, even tree-free papers are often bleached with chlorine or chlorine derivatives. The byproduct
dioxin is then released into waterways, poisoning fish and the animals (including humans) that consume them.
For this reason, it is important when buying paper not only to look for tree-free products, but chlorine-free
ones as well. There are two designations for chlorine-free papers:
TCF, or totally chlorine free, meaning paper that is made without chlorine or chlorine
derivatives. This applies to virgin paper.
PCF, or processed chlorine free, which means much the same as TCF, except that it applies
to recycled paper.
Many tree-free papers are actually blends of non-wood fibers and post-consumer waste (recycled) paper. This
is a good thing. Using recycled paper to create new paper saves both water and energy, and helps keep pollution
down. So, next time you shop, seek out the tree-free blends marked PCF - they're the best paper products you
can buy. Don't forget to encourage your office supply store to carry these papers if they don't yet. Let the
publishers of the magazines you subscribe to know you care, too. That's how to be a real engine of change.
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