Stop paper waste with this one simple tip
For day 21 of our carbon fast we were asked to think about paper.
The suggestion read “Save paper today. Don’t print unless you need to and when you do, print double-sided onto recycled paper. Use paper, tissue, toilet paper and wood that is recycled or has been accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council. This ensures it has come from responsibly managed sustainable forests or confirms that it is recycled.”
I have to admit, not wasting paper comes pretty naturally to me now, except for the odd time when I print more than I need to.
I have an overflowing drawer of scrap paper – I never use a new sheet to write notes, a shopping list or telephone messages. The same goes for envelopes – these are carefully opened and reused.
What I love about both these strategies is that they save me money! I cannot remember the last time I bought a scrap notebook or some envelopes. In the past I’ve had so much I’ve had to offer it on Freecycle (and it was snapped up by several people!)
We buy recycled paper products wherever possible and look out for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation.
The one thing the suggestion does not go into is PREVENTION of waste paper. My number one piece of advice here is to put a stop to junk mail.
It is estimated that a total of 17.5 billion pieces of junk mail are produced every year. isn’t that incredible? It means you probably get around 300 pieces of junk mail per year. To produce this amount of junk mail, it takes 550,000 tonnes of paper or more shockingly 9.35 million trees.
Yep 9.35 million trees to send you stuff in the post you don’t even want. It’s time to stop it isn’t it? We’re using our planet’s lungs to send us crap in the post!
Sign up for the Mail Preference Service and put an end to junk mail in your home.