Green Sanctuary Program
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Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship
Green Sanctuary Program |
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April 25, 2007 National Geographic Green Guide http://www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=31 - article no longer available online Personal Health Substantial threats to health arise as logs are milled into paper. Wood pulp must be bleached to lighten its color, which today usually involves the use of chlorine or chlorine derivatives. When these chlorine-containing compounds interact with organic matter like wood pulp, paper's raw ingredient, organochlorine chemicals are formed, most notably dioxins. These toxic byproducts are then released into the environment, primarily through the waste water from pulp mills. Dioxins are highly toxic. In its 2000 final draft reassessment of the health effects of dioxins, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that dioxins are potent toxicants with potential to produce an array of adverse health effects in humans. The EPA report estimated that the average American's risk of contracting cancer from dioxin exposure may be as high as 1 in 1,000 -- 1,000 times higher than the government's current "acceptable" standard of 1 in a million. Dioxins are also endocrine disruptors: substances that can interfere with the body's natural hormone signals. Dioxin exposure, moreover, can damage the immune system, and may affect reproduction and childhood development. Furans and other organochlorines produced in this bleaching process are chemically similar to dioxins, and pose similar health risks. Once released into the air and water, dioxins freely disperse. These persistent compounds drift around the world, and make their way into the food chain when they land on plants or accompany a living organism's drink. When ingested by animals or humans, dioxins accumulate in fatty tissue. As a result, over 95% of typical human exposure comes through dietary intake of animal fats such as meat, dairy and eggs, the EPA says. Because dioxins are so widespread, we all have traces of dioxins in our bodies. Many paper mills have acted to reduce the environmentally damaging effects of using chlorine compounds: approximately 80% of U.S. pulp mills, for example, have switched from elemental chlorine to less-damaging chlorine dioxide. In spite of these changes, however, U.S. paper mills remain the chief source of dioxin contamination of water. Globally, more than half of the world's paper mills still use chlorine gas -- the most toxic option -- to bleach their pulp. As paper decomposes in landfills or is burned in incinerators, chemicals from its inks are released into the environment. Once in our water and air, these pollutants can enter the food chain and our bodies. Lead and other toxic metal pigments, such as arsenic, cadmium, zinc, manganese, mercury, potassium, copper, chromium and nickel, are still used in some printing inks. The printing industry, once a major source of lead waste, has made great strides in reducing toxic mineral use in inks, but the use of lead and other metals has not been phased out entirely. Even small amounts of lead can damage brains and nervous systems, especially in infants and children. Exposure to heavy metals has been linked to mental retardation, kidney damage, cancers, and autoimmune diseases. Environmental From its sources in forests and timber plantations to its disposal in landfills, paper generates a ream of environmental problems. The vast majority of paper is made from wood; indeed, nearly half of all the timber felled in the U.S. becomes paper. In fact, when all wood fiber is counted, the pulp and paper industry emerges as the largest industrial wood consumer in the U.S. and in the world. In addition to board-feet of timber, forestry practices generate a number of problems: Deforestation and Habitat Loss: Worldwide, deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate, particularly in tropical regions. The World Resources Institute estimated in 1997 that only a fifth of the world's old-growth forests were undamaged, and almost half of these faced immediate threats from logging and development. While farmers who clear forested land to grow crops are the chief agents of deforestation, logging is a substantial contributor. Indeed, loggers create roads that open pathways into the forest for land-clearing farmers. Deforestation diminishes biodiversity, since most forest-dwelling creatures cannot live in cleared or damaged habitat. This loss is particularly acute in rainforests, which host rich communities of life, including many unknown, potentially useful plants and trees that may disappear from our world forever before their medicinal or other properties have been studied. Although only about 2% of paper originates in rainforest or virgin forest, this number is likely to increase as demand rises, unless substantial changes are made in how paper is produced. While tree plantations are proliferating around the world to meet our growing need for timber, they are poor habitat compared to diverse, healthy forests, and support only a fraction of the species and diversity of life. Erosion, Siltation, and Floods: Trees, when standing, hold soil in place and help a forest retain water. When they are cut down, more soil washes into streams, muddying the waters. Much aquatic life relies on clear, undisturbed stream water. It can become impossible, for example, for fish to spawn in sediment-filled water -- imperiling the survival of salmon, an economically important fish that is also a key source of food for eagles, bear, and other wildlife. Moreover, with trees gone, water rushes down hillsides and causes floods; China has attributed a recent series of devastating floods to a loss of forest cover due to logging. Disposing of paper also causes environmental problems. Paper that is thrown away fills up American landfills, constituting from 30 - 40% of landfill waste. Even though municipal recycling programs are on the rise, less than half of the U.S.'s 80 million tons of paper waste was recycled in 2000. As paper decomposes in landfills, it releases carbon, a gas that contributes to global warming, into the air. In addition, the dioxin and heavy metals produced by decomposing and incinerated paper can harm wildlife and ecosystems. The paper industry is also the U.S.'s largest industrial water-guzzler: chlorine-based paper processing uses up to 50,000 gallons of water per ton of paper. Social The harvesting of timber for paper and other wood products has some distressing social consequences. As a valuable natural resource, timber has fueled armed conflicts around the world. Forest-dwelling indigenous peoples, who often lack the political clout to control timber resources they nominally own, have especially suffered. The Misquito people of Nicaragua, for example, presently are defending their forests with guerilla warfare, and armed forces have recently fought over timber resources in Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and other remote forest locales. David Kaimowitz, director-general of the Center for International Forestry Research, summarizes the situation: There is, it seems, a standard recipe for conflict. Take a remote and inaccessible forested area inhabited by ethnic minorities with little government presence... Outsiders surge in to exploit the potential wealth. Add automatic weapons that can easily be bought on the black market, and the profits of plunder, and you soon end up with jungle warfare between indigenous people and those they regard as invaders. All these problems have grown tremendously in the recent past, and are predicted to grow even faster in the near future, as developing countries increase their use of paper and other wood products. Our forest footprint--the amount of forested area that humans use to meet their forest-product needs--has grown by 50% since the early 1960's, and experts predict a 50% increase in the world's paper consumption by 2010. Computer use has not produced a hoped-for reduction in paper consumption: personal computers print out a global total of 115 billion pounds of paper each year, and the average U.S. consumer uses more than 700 pounds of paper every year--twice the European average. What to look for Recycled Paper Recycled paper is one way to help silence the saws. Recycling saves trees and forest ecosystems, sequesters the heavy metals in inks and keeps them out of the general waste stream, saves landfill space, produces jobs, saves water and energy, and generates far fewer greenhouse gases than virgin paper production. Purchasers of recycled paper help create a market for recycled paper and incentives for the recovery of paper; the percentage of office paper currently recycled in the U.S. is a pitiful 20%. Recycling processes have improved in every way over the last decade. In the past, recycling paper involved toxic solvents and detergents, but newer de-inking systems, now widespread in the industry, have eliminated these troublesome substances. Printers and consumers used to complain that recycled paper caused jamming and machine- damaging lint in copiers, and that its paper texture and appearance were undesirable. Now, recycled papers perform competitively with virgin sheets in printing presses, copiers, laser printers, computers, inserters, and most other paper equipment. Sometimes recycled paper has slightly more small specks in the paper than virgin sheets. And recycled papers may be a point or two lower in brightness than their virgin paper counterparts. (Brightness is measured by the percentage of light reflected back from the paper.) But this difference is negligible and invisible to most users. Indeed, a survey of commercial printers using recycled paper, conducted by Paper Sales magazine a few years ago, found 80% of them reporting that, even then, recycled paper worked as well as, or better than, virgin paper. Modern recycled paper also poses no additional burdens on copiers; in fact, Xerox "strongly supports" using recycled paper for general use in its copy machines, as does Hewlett-Packard in its printers. Look for the following labels on recycled paper: -% Post-Consumer Waste (PCW): This phrase defines what percentage of a paper is derived from consumer- generated paper that has been recycled from the solid waste stream. This is the most efficient reuse of paper, and as a rule of thumb consumers should seek out the maximum percentage of post-consumer content in the recycled paper that they buy.Sustainably Harvested Wood The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) can certify that the pulp used to make paper originates from sustainably managed forests with intact, healthy ecosystems. Although FSC-certified paper is rare, Domtar and Lyons Falls Pulp & Paper make paper from FSC-certified wood pulp (See Producers, below). Alternatives to Chlorine Given the dire health effects associated with the use of chlorine compounds, avoiding chlorine altogether seems the most prudent choice. Moreover, chlorine-free paper processing uses less than 1/10 as much water, according to the Chlorine Free Products Association. Several production processes exist as safer alternatives. The papers produced with these processes carry the following labels: * TCF: Totally Chlorine Free, for virgin (non-recycled) paper that is unbleached or processed without the use of chlorine or chlorine derivatives.Alternative Fibers Trees are not the only source of paper fibers. In fact, paper has historically been made from papyrus, flax, hemp, and cotton; making paper from wood did not begin in earnest until the 19th century. Today, tree-free paper is available made from a variety of substances, including flax and linen, tobacco leaf, agricultural stalks and straws, bamboo, coffee bean residue, esparto grass, seaweed, bagasse (leftover sugarcane stalks), old money, old clothing, and ground junk-mail. Using agricultural and industrial waste and by-products for paper keeps them out of the waste stream and ekes one more human use from these raw materials. These fibers also can be combined with paper made from wood pulp and recycled even further. Currently, the chief tree-free papers include: Kenaf: A relative of hibiscus and cotton, kenaf is an annual plant that produces more than twice the amount of fiber per acre as a pine forest. It serves as an excellent companion plant for legumes and other crops, requires few pesticides and herbicides, and is naturally whiter than wood pulp--requiring, therefore, less bleaching.Green Seal Green Seal is an independent, non-profit organization that strives to achieve a healthier and cleaner environment by identifying and promoting products and services that cause less toxic pollution and waste, conserve resources and habitats, and minimize global warming and ozone depletion. Green Seal researches and assigns rigorous standards to a variety of products, including paper, and the Green Seal is a highly-respected endorsement that a product makes a meaningful difference to human health and the environment. Green Seal both recommends paper products that meet its criteria, and certifies paper products when manufacturers submit to inspections to verify their production processes. Acid-Free Paper-processing techniques often leave paper slightly acidic, which impacts the longevity of the paper. For artistic or archival purposes--for works intended to last for decades--choose acid-free paper. Many acid-free papers are available (most copy papers are acid-free, for example). Grades and Weight Bond paper is heavier, higher-grade paper; it is generally considered too fine a paper for most copying and computer printing needs. In general, use the lightest weight paper (and therefore the fewest materials used to create it) possible for your printing or writing purposes. Most copy paper has a basis weight of 20 or 24 lbs., which will meet most office needs. What to look out for Bamboo Currently, there is no monitoring or certification to ensure that bamboo grown for paper is sustainably harvested. Much of it is grown on converted forest land, turning a diverse ecosystem into a monoculture agricultural plantation. There is also concern about increasing pressure to harvest wild bamboo and further endanger the animals, such as pandas and tigers, who depend on these bamboo forests. Bamboo is pulped abroad, in countries with laxer environmental regulations. For example, in 1997, the Phoenix Pulp and Paper Mill in Thailand, a maker of bamboo paper, was found to pollute local waterways with chlorinated effluent. Until certification processes become clearer and more reliable, ReThink Paper, a project of the Earth Island Institute, recommends avoiding bamboo paper products. Shopping Suggestions Recommended Everyday Copy and Computer Paper The following table lists our recommendations for affordable, earth-friendly, everyday office paper. All are relatively inexpensive-- many have been rated as "least expensive" (under $5 for a ream) by The Paper Campaign, and all meet high standards for bleaching and recycled/alternative fiber content. Go for TCF and higher PCW (post- consumer waste) percentages when possible. (Go to the original website listed above to view the chart provided.) Makers of Printing, Writing, and Premium Office Papers All listed products are claimed by manufacturers to be ECF, at a minumum (PCF and TCF products are identified as such). Products noted as FSC-certified are made with pulp certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as sustainably harvested.
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