The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification ensures responsibility in wood sourcing for paper. Ultimately, the goal of recycling, responsible sourcing, and tree-free options is to present consumers with a choice of greener, eco-friendly paper products. This alternative uses materials such as bamboo, jute, and hemp. These help to curb the negative impact of standard paper manufacturing.įurthermore, there has also been a rise in tree-free papers. Over the years, people have developed alternatives to traditional paper products and materials-the two main kinds of eco-friendly paper are FSC Certified papers and recycled paper products. Eco-Friendly Paper - What to Look for Photo by Kate Macate on Unsplash As a result, this contributes to greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming and climate change. The production process to produce paper products such as packaging and books require significant energy use and chemicals. Apart from felling trees, significant energy, water use, and pollution, there’s also the threat of greenhouse gasses. When we examine the lifecycle of paper and packaging, we see why we need eco-friendly alternatives. This pollutes water bodies such as rivers and lakes. The synthetic and toxic chemicals the industry uses to dye papers sometimes seep into waterways. Furthermore, the production process contributes significantly to waste and pollution. Using recovered paper can save up to 40% of the water footprint 1. A single A4 sheet can use up to 20 liters of water 4. Related: Deforestation Facts & StatisticsĪnother major challenge of traditional paper sourcing and production is the amount of water the industry uses. This also poses a threat to wildlife habitats. Trees and forests serve as carbon sinks, and when their numbers reduce, it affects the ecosystem. Since traditional paper typically comes from virgin wood pulp and fibers, they come from freshly cut trees.
This leads to deforestation, a global threat to our environment and world. Paper manufacturers have these trees cut down to produce wood pulp for paper products. Our world loses around four billion trees every year due to paper production 2. The paper industry contributes to environmental issues. As much as we’ve come to rely on paper, we also need to consider the sustainability factor. From tag labels and gift cards to textbooks and journals, there’s no denying the presence of this product. We can find paper in our homes, office, and most places we might stop to take a note.
Environmental Effects of Traditional Paper It offers many benefits including a lower carbon footprint, sustainability, and responsible sourcing. To mitigate these effects, eco-friendly paper is becoming more popular. Furthermore, traditional paper production usually requires tons of freshwater. Whereas paper comes from trees, there are many repercussions of paper production.įrom the source down to the manufacturing process, traditional paper processing contributes to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. We also buy many products that have paper packaging. I click the icon for my life raft, drop it into the water, climb in, and sneak away under cover of night.Whether it’s the cereal boxes in the kitchen or the book on your nightstand, paper products are present everywhere. I can't even imagine how long that will take. Seems like I'm going to have to somehow turn this giant ship all the way around and make my way back to the piers, and just start trying to dock at them, hoping to pick the right one. I cruise past them all until I essentially run out of river. I keep going, expecting the game to tell me, at some point, which dock I'm supposed to use. It does not, however, indicate which is the designated pier. Finally, the game tells me to moor at the designated pier at Southampton harbor. Knowing how long it takes to slow down this ship, I throttle back and start creeping through the water.
It's been, like, two more hours or so of this, just sort of watching a giant ship slowly move in one direction, and I don't even have passengers yet. The channel gets shallower, so I chug slower, past Netley, Weston, Woolston and a place charmingly named East Mud. I chug on in the dark, headed for Southampton.