Find Out Why You Should Recycle Paper

Not enough people recycle the paper that they use, which is a real shame because there are many benefits to be had from doing so. What are those benefits? Well, these are some of the main ones…

- As paper is made from trees, the less paper we use the less trees have to be cut down. The effect of cutting down trees is devastating on the environment. Whole ecosystems can come to an end as a result of just part of a forest being cut down. Therefore, recycling paper saves many animals and a lot of plant-life. There is also the visual impact that deforestation to consider. Google the term ‘deforestation’ and see for yourself what a stain excessively cutting down trees leaves on our planet.

- A lot of everyday items (newspapers, Cardboard Boxes, envelopes, egg cartons, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.) can be made from recycled paper. These items do the same job whether they are made from ‘new’ paper or recycled paper, so it makes so no sense to not make them from recycled paper. The problem is we are not recycling enough paper to be able to make these items from only recycled paper.

- Money can be saved in two ways by recycling paper. Firstly, from a manufacturing point of view, it costs much less to turn waste paper into new paper products than it does to turn trees into new paper products. Secondly, as consumers, by buying recycled products we can save money as they nearly always cost less than ones made from virgin pulp. In these harsh economic times, avoiding unnecessary leakage in any part of the economy makes sense.

- Recycled paper products conserve resources and generate less pollution during manufacturing. This is because the fibers have already been processed once. It also reduces solid waste because it takes usable paper out of the waste stream. That means less total energy, water, and chemical use, and lower releases of air and water pollutants.

- Producing recycled paper uses much less total energy than producing virgin paper. Depending on the grade of paper, producing recycled paper may use less purchased energy in the form of fossil fuels and electricity. Pretty much all of the energy that we use damages the environment in one way or another, and so we should save what we can where we can.

Good Reasons To Recycle Paper

The environment benefits greatly from paper being recycled and, fortunately, it is not at all difficult to do. Once it has been collected (by either your local authority or a recycling company acting on their behalf), it is taken to a paper mill, who take care of the rest of the recycling process.

Once at the mill, the scrap paper is added to water and then turned into pulp. Having been turned into pulp, it is then cleaned and de-inked. It is then ready to be made into new products such as newspapers, toilet rolls and other paper based items commonly found in the home and office.

Below are some of the environmental and money saving benefits of recycling paper:

Saves Trees - The most obvious reason to recycle paper is for saving trees which provide vital oxygen for the planet. Just 1 ton of recycled paper saves at least 16 of them.

Wildlife Preservation - More often than not, the wildlife that lives in the trees that are cut down to make ‘new’ paper, die quickly because they cannot adapt to living anywhere else. Recycling paper means that they can die natural deaths instead of forced ones.

Less Water Consumption - To make ‘new’ paper requires vast amounts of water, whereas the process of recycling paper uses up much less of this important resource.

Saves Electricity - Producing electricity seriously damages the environment, but more than 400 kilowatt hours are saved by recycling 1 ton of paper.

Reduces Oil Dependence - Recycling paper reduces our dependence on oil. For every ton of paper that is recycled, approximately 2 barrels of oil are saved.

Saves Space - Recycling paper reduces space in landfills. 1 ton of recycled paper made from scraps can save 3 cubic yards.

Less Pollution - Paper can burn in municipal waste incinerators that can spew out all kinds of air pollutants. When many incinerators are in urban locations, everyone would benefit from breathing better air if there were fewer of them.

Creates Jobs - Think about all the people who work within the paper recycling industry. Collectors, sorters and machine operators being just a few of them. The more that we recycle, the more of these jobs there will be created.

Paper Logs - Many people are now turning to paper logs as a supplementary fuel source. Consisting of tightly compressed briquettes of paper, these logs can be thrown on a fire or used in a wood burner to provide heat for free.

Cheaper Paper - Recycled paper is often cheap to purchase. Buying cheaper, recycled goods encourages more recycled goods to be manufactured, sustaining the recycling industry.
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http://www.paperlogmaker.org.uk is a website dedicated to the recycling of paper. At their site you can find out what a paper log maker is and how it can help you recycle paper.