It could be said that global warming is the result, not only of greenhouse gas emissions, but of humans failing to recognize that all systems on the planet are mutually related, alive and sacred.

By the same token, it might be said that if we regarded ourselves as part of the whole fabric of the earth rather than its masters, we might never dream of creating economies that annually took down 5 million acres of natuiral forest in the United States to make wood pulp for the paper industry.

Here are some of the hard facts; some alternative solutions to a thorny problem; and some simple, inexpensive and inspiring ways each of us can help. We’ll start with

THE BAD NEWS

  • The most diverse forests in North America, which are in the Southern United States, contain the largest paper producing region in the world.
  • Each year, 20 million trees, or 5 million acres of natural forest, are cut down to make paper.
  • Of the global wood harvest, 42% goes to paper production.
  • Printing and writing paper accounts for almost 27,000 tons of wood pulp a year.
  • The global production of pulp, paper and publishing is expected to increase 77% by the year 2020.
  • The United States is claimed to have 6 times the per capita consumption of paper over the world average.
  • The paper industry is the third highest emitter of industrial greenhouse gases to the air in the world, and the fifth highest emitter of industrial toxic waste to water.
  • The planet is exposed to 250,000 metric tons of toxic pollutants from paper manufacturers each year.

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

1. Tree Farms

  • Replacing natural forest with tree farms creates a relatively reliable source of wood pulp, but reduces by 90% the number of species contained in a natural forest.
  • The conversion of forests to tree farms leads to a radical loss of freshwater, air quality, soil cohesion and animal, insect, bird and plant species.
  • Rural communities in and around these tree farms and their paper mills tend to be degraded economically and socially.
  • South American “paper forests,” as they are called, are expected to grow 70% by the year 2012.

2. Recycled Paper

Paul Hawken, co-founder of the Green Press Initiative has said that if all books were printed on recycled paper, the act of publishing and reading would begin to heal our forests and promote sustainable economic activity.

  • Currently, recycled paper represents less than 8% of the entire printing and writing market, because publishers claim it is not cost effective. However, market pricing analysis shows that switching from virgin fibers to 100% post-consumer recycled paper would equal an increase of about 20 cents per book. Many readers polled claimed a willingness to spend an extra dollar for books printed on recycled paper.
  • It takes an estimated one ton of recycled stock to make one ton of paper, while it takes an estimated two to three and half tons of virgin trees to make that same ton of paper.
  • One ton of recycled paper can save the equivalent of 24 trees of 40 foot height, 6 to 8 inch diameter.
  • One ton of recycled paper can save the equivalent of 7000 gallons of water; 60 pounds of air pollution; and 4100 killowatt hours of electricity.

3. Alternative, annual crops used for papermaking

Kenaf, which grows well in the Southeastern US, has a 3 to 5 times greater yield than the Southern pines which grow in the same region. Related to the hibiscus, it is originally an African plant which can grow up to 14 feet tall in under five months.

  • Industrial hemp, related to, but not the same plant as, marijuana grows up to 16 feet tall in 4 months, producing an estimated 10 tons an acre. It is not (yet) legal in the US.
  • Straw, the agricultural residue of a multitude of plants, goes underutilized every year in the US by an estimated 150 tons.
  • Visit http://www.lucidskies.com/paper.html for more information.

How Can I Help?

SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

First of all, live your life as if everything was interconnected, everything was alive and everything was a miracle.

About Carolyn North

Photo by Susan Wilson

Carolyn North is a writer, healer and social activist whose latest book, ECSTATIC RELATIONS, A Memoir of Love has prompted this action to collaborate with TreePeople to protect the forests that are sacrificed daily for the printing of her books, and all the books we all read.

Long an advocate of healthy forests, she has worked at the Manitou Forest Sanctuary in southern Vermont, and also built the first permitted load-bearing, rice strawbale house in this country, in Northern California.

To learn more about her work – including her 8 published books – visit her website at: http://www.healingimprovisations.net

About Tree People

TreePeople has planted over 2 million trees in the Los Angeles area since 1973 in its work to help nature heal our cities. Having one of the nation's largest environmental education programs, TreePeople offers sustainable solutions to urban ecosytem problems including water, air quality, energy conservation and flood prevention. Originally started by teenagers, it is one of the most innovative, comprehensive and people-friendly environmental groups in the United States.

Publishers, authors and readers are invited to join Carolyn North and TreePeople to mitigate the impact on the environment in the following ways:

A donation of $25 will plant a tree and provide a 1-year membership to TreePeople. $100 will plant a grove of 5 trees

DONATE ONLINE at http://treepeople.org/

Spread the Word

If you would like to support the project, whether you are an author or a publisher, we invite you to freely use this text on your website or emails:

According to the USDA Forest Service's Southern Forest Resource Assessment of 2001, 20 million trees and an estimated 5 million acres of natural forest are logged annually to provide wood pulp for the writing and printing market. This translates to approximately 27,000 tons of printing and writing paper annually.

“TreePeople, in collaboration with Sentient Publications’ author Carolyn North, invites you to join the Books Into Trees Project. To offset the loss of our native forests one tree at a time, you can plant a tree in your name, or in dedication to a loved one. A donation of $25 will plant a tree and provide a one-year membership to TreePeople. $100 will plant a grove of five trees. Visit www.treepeople.org. Other tree planting groups include American Forests, www.americanforests.org, and Trees for the Future, www.treesftf.org.”


SOURCES

USDA Forest Service Southern Forest Resource Assessment, 2001
Worldwatch Institute
World Resources Institute
US Fish and Wildlife Services
British Columbia Ministry of Forests
Pulp and Paper International