April 15, 2014 – 7 Days until Earth Day…
The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year!
- To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down
- If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year
- The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year, most is packaging and junk mail
- The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years
- Overall consumption of wood products has increased significantly since the mid-1960s in a variety of categories — up 43 percent in lumber, 32 percent in plywood, 45 percent in pulpwood and 33 percent in fuelwood
- Americans already recycle 24 million tons of paper a year, 29 percent of the paper we use (there’s more than 50 million tons worth of room to improve)
- Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64 percent energy savings, a 58 percent water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
Take Action – Make your Business and Lifestyle Paperless
- Print only when it is a necessity. Set your printer to automatic duplex so that you’re taking advantage of both sides of the paper.
- Scan paper documents so that they can be e-mailed rather than copied multiple times and distributed by hand.
- Upload all of your documents and files to Googledocs, Skydrive (Microsoft) or Dropbox. Name all of your files and put them in folders with easily found names so you can retrieve your documents as fast as possible.
- Consider paperless statements and bill paying. Talk to your bank for more information on how to sign up.
- Remove yourself from mailing lists. Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer information page to find out how you can stop unsolicited mail, phone calls and emails.
- Recycle used paper. You can visit Global Industrial’s website to purchase recycling bins, or contact your local recycling center to see if they give them away for free.
- Plant a tree. There is an abundance of online resources that allow you to either donate monetarily towards the planting of a tree, or that can teach you how to plant one yourself.
The Benefits
- You will have all of your documents on your computer and uploaded to an online storage space.
- You can access all your documents from anywhere in the world. You just need a laptop or tablet computer and you can run your business from anywhere.
- You can quickly send your documents to people.
- You’ll have more space and less clutter.
- You’ll save the environment.
dye
oxygen
piano keys
rayon – books
fishing floats – inks
telephone books
varnish – atlases and maps
price tags – ping pong balls
tires – umbrella handles -signs
automobile instrument panels
space craft reentry shields – newspaper
photographic film – newspapers – posters
football helmets – toilet seats – guitars
road building materials – insulation
shatterproof glass – artificial vanilla flavoring
cork – vacuum cleaner bags – movies – stadium seats
adhesives – decorations – turpentine – camphor – waxes
fireworks – crayons – tannin – charcoal – pine oil – pitch
musical instruments – perches for birds of prey – toilet paper
milk cartons – flooring – bark for landscaping – cardboard
grocery bags – furniture – chewing gum – paper towels
oil spill control agents – Christmas trees – hockey sticks
wildlife habitat – cosmetics – roofs – baby foods – cider – vitamins
cooking utensils – photographic film – lacquer – pallets – rubber gloves
mulch – clean water – golf tees – egg cartons – nail polish – fence posts – toys
toothpaste – eyeglass frames – syrup – antacids – shampoo – rubber gloves
menthol – electrical outlets – medicines – energy for electricity – plates and bowls
sausage casings – torula yeast – rulers – wooden blocks – houses – notebook paper – oars
plywood – paper plates – computer casings – stain remover – coffee filters – toothpicks
movie tickets – carpet and upholstery backsides – imitation bacon – diapers – horse corrals
postcards – tax forms – sponges – shade – particle board – shoe polish – luggage – bowling alley lanes
postage stamps – colognes – animal bedding – irrigation piping – fruit pie filling – golf balls – game boards
suspending agent for drinking soda – pencils – dry wall – baby cribs – baseball bats – lumber – decoys – kites
magazines -ice cream thickener – step ladders – birthday cards – broom sticks – cider – ceiling tiles
crutches – backyard play sets – axe handle – food labels – 2 x 4’s – candy wrappers
scenery – party invitations – disinfectants – cd inserts – gummed tape – fruit
railroad ties – shelter belts – puzzles – swings – baking cups
buttons – cutting boards
benches – bird houses
stereo speakers
garden stakes
stairways – beds
tables – barrels
window frames
bulletin boards
linoleum – seesaws
fishing boats – billboards
disposable medical clothing
church pews – totem poles – desks
Resources:
