STATS

>>Approximately one in five logged trees is used to make paper.

>>One third of timber logged in public national forests (which belong to everyone in the U.S.) goes to make paper.

>>The average American uses about 800 pounds of paper each year.

>>The U.S. uses about 200 billion pounds of paper a year. It takes 1.7 billion trees to make this much paper.

>>Paper constitutes 40% of all the solid waste generated in the United States.

>>50% to 60% of all landfill space in the U.S. is composed of some form of paper.

>>Paper consumption is growing. In the last 30 years the global demand for paper has tripled.

>>Most paper is bleached using chlorine compounds which result in the production of dioxin as a byproduct.

>>Dioxin is a toxic cancer-causing chemical and the process of bleaching paper is the largest source of dioxin.

>>100% post-consumer waste recycled paper looks and performs just as well as the paper you are using now.

>>Over 90% of all printing and writing paper has no recycled content.

>>When we buy recycled paper, we show the world that recycling is worthwhile. This increases the market demand for recycled products and increases incentives for recycling programs.

>>Over 80% of the world’s valuable old growth forests have already been destroyed. In the United States 95% of our original old growth forests are gone.

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TERMS

Post-Consumer Waste (PCW): Fiber that has been used by a consumer, put in a recycling bin, gone through a recycling facility, and made into new paper. Post-consumer waste is what most people mistakenly think of when they hear the word “Recycled.”

Post-Consumer Content (PCC): The amount of post-consumer waste in a product, usually expressed as a percentage. 100% PCC paper is composed of 100% post-consumer waste.

Pre-Consumer Waste: Fiber made from mill scraps or recovered materials. Most mills will use scraps and recovered materials anyway for financial reasons. The term does not necessarily mean the paper was made from something somebody put in a recycling bin.

Recycled Paper: Recycled paper can be made of post-consumer waste, pre-consumer waste, or some of each.

Processed Chlorine Free (PCF): Recycled paper which is bleached without the use of chlorine. Usually non-toxic hydrogen peroxide is used instead.

Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF): This term refers to a bleaching process which still uses chlorine and still produces dioxin, but not as much.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO!

>>Remember that paper is made from trees and don't waste it. Use the back of paper and print double-sided whenever possible. Use little pieces of paper when you only have to write a few things down. This stuff really adds up.

>>Recycle! There is no reason to produce more garbage when paper can be used to make new paper.

>>Buy recycled paper. 100% post-consumer waste, 100% processed chlorine free paper doesn't look any different from 100% virgin fiber paper to the untrained eye. Badger Envirographic, New Leaf Encore 100, Rolland Evolution 100, and Georgia Pacific Eureka 100 are all brands of quality 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper.

>>Don't support corporations such as Weyerhauser that sell paper which is made from virgin fiber, old growth forests, public lands, or clear-cut forests.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact the Rainforest Action Network ( www.ran.org ), Sierra Student Coalition ( www.ssc.org ), Forest Ethics ( www.forestethics.org ), or one of the many other national environmental organizations working to end the unnecessary destruction of valuable forest ecosystems.

You can also visit www.ThePaperCampaign.com or simply search the internet.