Printer/ Copy Paper Update

 

Improvements have recently been made with respect to paper procurement. Students in Jen Everett’s Spring 2007 Environmental Ethics course learned that DePauw’s default copy and printer paper was 100% virgin (i.e., no recycled content) and began research into environmentally preferable paper options. At the request of students from that course and the DePauw Environmental Club in spring 2008, the Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC) investigated the feasibility of switching campus printers from using 100% virgin paper to paper that has some recycled content. A proposal was submitted to Dr. Neal Abraham and the Committee on Management of Academic Affairs (MAO) by ATAC committee chair Bruce Sanders with research results and recommendations (attached as Appendix J of the Sustainability Status Report) and based on these recommendations, the University’s next bid was for 30% post-consumer recycled paper.

DePauw wants to purchase products that reflect their understanding of humans' negative impact on the environment. We want to lessen our impact and support companies and organizations who are environmentally-responsible. Post-consumer content paper (pc), or paper that has been used by the consumer and then is collected for recycling from various recycling programs, processed-chlorine free or totally-chlorine free paper, and paper products made from sustainably managed forests or from alternative “tree-free” fibers help preserve forests, cut paper-manufacturing pollution, and reduce solid waste. Besides the percentage of post-consumer content there are also other considerations in choosing which line of paper. If a paper has been produced with a renewable energy source, it may have a Green-e Certification or Green Power. Green Power usually indicates the company has purchased green credits in amounts equal to the electricity it needs to power their mill. Paper may come from alternative fibers other than timber like cotton linters, sugar cane bagasse, bamboo, hemp, flax, eucalyptus, or kenaf. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes and certifies sustainably managed forests and forest product producers. FSC is an independent, international, non-profit organization based in Germany and established in the US in 1995. As the largest forest certification program they facilitate third-party organizations to test, audit, and certify companies in order to earn the FSC label.

As a member of the DePauw community try to quantify how much paper you print on or use in another way each day. Do not take it for granted. Its cradle-to-cradle life involves many complex ecological transactions. Now, consider these facts from New American Dream:

  • In the United States, more than 90 percent of the printing and writing paper comes from virgin tree fiber.
  • Nearly half the trees cut in North America are used for papermaking.
  • The U.S. paper industry is the country's largest single consumer of wood.
  • The pulp and paper industry ranks first in use of industrial process water, third in toxic chemical releases and fourth in emissions of the air pollutants known to impair respiratory health. Producing recycled paper causes 74 percent less air pollution, 35 percent less water pollution, and creates 5 times the number of jobs than producing paper from trees.