Do you want to make a big environmental impact fast? Changing your behavior on tissue paper use is a very simple and immediate way. About two-thirds of tissue paper use is at home and one-third is away from home, so the majority of tissue purchasing and use is within your control.
Some things about the tissue paper market are disturbing and just don’t make sense to me.
• Almost all of the heavily advertised tissue products available at your local store are made from trees, rather than recycled paper.
• They come from trees, one tree produces about 100 pounds of paper. A household of four will consume 2 TREES every year when using non-recycled products.
• We have a lot of recycle paper looking for a second use.
• Paper can only be recycled a few times, so a perfect “final use” for recycled paper is tissue paper products.
From India, Ahmadabad
34Some things about the tissue paper market are disturbing and just don’t make sense to me.
• Almost all of the heavily advertised tissue products available at your local store are made from trees, rather than recycled paper.
• They come from trees, one tree produces about 100 pounds of paper. A household of four will consume 2 TREES every year when using non-recycled products.
• We have a lot of recycle paper looking for a second use.
• Paper can only be recycled a few times, so a perfect “final use” for recycled paper is tissue paper products.
From India, Ahmadabad
Disposable shopping bags are everywhere. From department stores to malls, they are the way we carry our purchases. These lightweight containers were introduced in the 1970s as a means of making shopping easier for consumers. We have compiled some facts about plastic bags and paper bags that we think are good reasons for you to pick up a reusable bag and make the next bag you throw out your last.
• How long does it take for plastic bags to decompose? A plastic bag can take from 15 to 1,000 years to break down, depending on environment. In a landfill, kept away from the environment that would help them biodegrade more easily, paper bags don’t do much better.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, but they can break down through photo degradation. When photo degradation, decomposition through exposure to light, happens, the bag breaks down into small, toxic particles.
• The cost to recycle plastic bags outweighs their value, so most recycling facilities will not take them. Instead of being recycled, they are thrown out with the rest of the trash.
• Thanks to their light weight, plastic bags in landfills don’t always stay there. They are likely to fly away and can settle in trees, block the gutters and clutter other beautiful places.
• Plastic bags are made from petroleum products and natural gas, both non-renewable resources, and their manufacture helps to drive up petrol prices.
• It takes 13% more energy to make a single paper bag than to make two plastic bags.
• Paper bag production involves the use of chemicals and high temperatures, and it releases toxins into the atmosphere at nearly the same rate as plastic bag production.
• Paper bags weigh almost ten times as much as plastic ones, meaning that more fuel is required to ship them to stores.
• Despite being highly recyclable, only 20% of paper bags end up being recycled, while the rest share a fate with their plastic brethren.
• In landfills, paper bags create more than twice as much atmospheric waste as plastic ones do, so they’re not necessarily a better choice for the environment.
• More than a dozen nations have banned or taxed disposable bags in the past five years.
• Reusable bags come in a wide variety of stylish shapes and prints, making shopping a bit less routine and more fun.
• Some grocery stores offer discounts to customers who bring reusable bags: Now that’s an incentive!
• The average reusable bag has a lifespan equal to that of more than 700 disposable plastic bags.
• One person using reusable bags over their lifetime would remove more than 22,000 plastic bags from the environment. Isn’t that an even better incentive?
V
From India, Ahmadabad
• How long does it take for plastic bags to decompose? A plastic bag can take from 15 to 1,000 years to break down, depending on environment. In a landfill, kept away from the environment that would help them biodegrade more easily, paper bags don’t do much better.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, but they can break down through photo degradation. When photo degradation, decomposition through exposure to light, happens, the bag breaks down into small, toxic particles.
• The cost to recycle plastic bags outweighs their value, so most recycling facilities will not take them. Instead of being recycled, they are thrown out with the rest of the trash.
• Thanks to their light weight, plastic bags in landfills don’t always stay there. They are likely to fly away and can settle in trees, block the gutters and clutter other beautiful places.
• Plastic bags are made from petroleum products and natural gas, both non-renewable resources, and their manufacture helps to drive up petrol prices.
• It takes 13% more energy to make a single paper bag than to make two plastic bags.
• Paper bag production involves the use of chemicals and high temperatures, and it releases toxins into the atmosphere at nearly the same rate as plastic bag production.
• Paper bags weigh almost ten times as much as plastic ones, meaning that more fuel is required to ship them to stores.
• Despite being highly recyclable, only 20% of paper bags end up being recycled, while the rest share a fate with their plastic brethren.
• In landfills, paper bags create more than twice as much atmospheric waste as plastic ones do, so they’re not necessarily a better choice for the environment.
• More than a dozen nations have banned or taxed disposable bags in the past five years.
• Reusable bags come in a wide variety of stylish shapes and prints, making shopping a bit less routine and more fun.
• Some grocery stores offer discounts to customers who bring reusable bags: Now that’s an incentive!
• The average reusable bag has a lifespan equal to that of more than 700 disposable plastic bags.
• One person using reusable bags over their lifetime would remove more than 22,000 plastic bags from the environment. Isn’t that an even better incentive?
V
From India, Ahmadabad
Paper is one of the most recyclable materials out there, but it is also one of the most reusable.
Here are some suggestions for reusing common types of office and household paper.
Office paper
• Print on both sides of the paper. This saves money and means each piece of paper gets used twice. Make sure you do not reuse confidential documents.
• Turn it into notepads. Every so often we end up with a bunch of leftover fliers. Cut the paper into quarters and use the small squares for notepads. All you need is a binder clip at the top to hold the pages together.
Greeting cards
• Reuse them. Many people cut off the front page (the part with the artwork) and uses cards again. Put it in a recycled envelope made from a magazine page.
• Make them into new cards. Every year, go through old greeting cards and look for ones that can be cut up and transformed into new cards. They are free, and the results can look quite nice.
Newspaper
• Use it for wrapping paper. We can always use the pages for wrapping things.
From India, Ahmadabad
Here are some suggestions for reusing common types of office and household paper.
Office paper
• Print on both sides of the paper. This saves money and means each piece of paper gets used twice. Make sure you do not reuse confidential documents.
• Turn it into notepads. Every so often we end up with a bunch of leftover fliers. Cut the paper into quarters and use the small squares for notepads. All you need is a binder clip at the top to hold the pages together.
Greeting cards
• Reuse them. Many people cut off the front page (the part with the artwork) and uses cards again. Put it in a recycled envelope made from a magazine page.
• Make them into new cards. Every year, go through old greeting cards and look for ones that can be cut up and transformed into new cards. They are free, and the results can look quite nice.
Newspaper
• Use it for wrapping paper. We can always use the pages for wrapping things.
From India, Ahmadabad
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