Paper is one of the few truly sustainable products.
Paper is a uniquely renewable and sustainable product. The main raw material, wood, is grown and harvested in a carefully controlled and sustainable way – so sustainable, in fact, that European forests, where most of the raw material comes from, have grown by an area the size of Switzerland in just 10 years.
“There aren’t many industries around that can aspire to becoming genuinely sustainable. The paper industry, however, is one of them; it is inherently sustainable.” Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder, Forum for the Future.
Paper goes through a renewable lifecycle from sourcing, to manufacturing, down to recycling.
Paper is one of the most recycled products in the world.
Yet the myths around paper are still prevalent amongst consumers. A 2019 survey by Two Sides revealed 59% of European consumers believe European forests are shrinking, when in fact they have been growing by an area equivalent to 1,500 football pitches every day. A third of consumers believe paper is a wasteful product and a quarter believe paper is bad for the environment. Often the source of these misconceptions is the abundance of misleading information about paper and its impact on the environment.
Electronic communication also has environmental impacts.
“Go Paperless”, “Go Green”, “Go Digital” and “Save Trees” are common messages seen these days as many organisations encourage their customers to switch to electronic transactions and communications. But are these appeals based on fact? These sort of messages give the impression that electronic communication is more environmentally friendly than traditional, paper-based communication. But it is very difficult to make such a statement without considering the full lifetime of those different mediums.
The environmental impacts of our ever-increasing digital world cannot be ignored. The ICT industry accounts for around 2.5-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and this is predicted to rise to 14% by 2040. Whereas, the contribution of the pulp, paper and printing industries to the global greenhouse gas inventory is just about 1%.
Businesses and individuals are increasingly using ‘cloud’ services. These mega data-centres store almost everything we do online; including our web searches, our social media posts and our online statements.
By 2040, the ICT carbon footprint could account for as much as 14% of the total worldwide footprint at the 2016 level, and hence exceed the current relative footprint of the Agriculture sector (9%), and almost half of the current total footprint of the industrial sector (29%) in the United States. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018
The electronic waste problem is colossal, and it’s growing. In 2016 alone, 44.7 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally, of which 435 thousand tonnes were mobile phones, representing more than the mass of the Empire State Building. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2018
When it comes to communication, whether it’s electronic or traditional mediums, consumers should be aware of the environmental impacts of their activities.
Paper has been the preferred communications medium for 2,000 years. Even in today’s digital world, it continues to be highly effective and, produced, used and disposed of responsibly; it is inherently eco-friendly.