Recycled Paper: why is it so hard to do the right thing?

Submitted by Alisa on July 17, 2007 - 3:00pm

35 tons of wood use VS. 0 tons of wood use

384 million BTU's of energy VS. 217 million BTU's of energy

56,902 lbs CO2 equiv. greenhouse gases VS. 35,821 lbs CO2 equiv.greenhouse gases

190,752 gallons of wastewater VS. 103,250 gallons of wastewater

22,783 pounds of solid waste VS. 11,547 pounds of solid waste

As interns, Madelyn and I were sent out with a simple task last week: go buy about 100 sheets of 100% recycled paper with matching recycled envelopes for less than $30. Sure, we're not paper connoisseurs but the mission seemed feasible. WRONG. After becoming excited upon finding what we were looking for at a paper warehouse we were quickly dismayed when they purchase rang up at $70. Onto Staples. Turns out Staples does not carry any 100% recycled executive paper and no recycled envelopes. The friendly salesperson looked at our crestfallen faces and declared "recycled isn't really popular." All I could think was "whyyy?"

The stats above compare 10 tons of 100% recycled paper with 10 tons of non-recycled paper. Why so black and white? Because most copy (printer) paper is 0% recycled, and we live in a world where it's possible and easy to make our paper 100% recycled. We always talk about how many trees we kill, but we make it difficult and expensive for people to do the right thing. It makes a big difference, and frankly, the inability to find recycled paper readily is shameful in 2007.

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