Why Buy

Check out the information below on sustainable living

• The Creation of Waste
• From chapter 3: Ecology of Commerce (The Creation of Waste), page 40:  The combination of chlorines and hydrocarbons is known as the organochlorine family of compounds. The family of organochlorines includes many famous chemicals now banned or restricted, such as DDT, chlordane, Mirex, Dieldrin, Heptachlor, all the PCBs, and the ozone-disrupting CFCs as well. When wood pulp or recycled paper is bleached, reactions taking place between chlorine and cellulose fibers produce organochlorines, some of the most toxic substances ever created. Hundreds of millions of pounds of these substances are released into the environment annually—usually in the form of "products" such as solvents, fungicides, pesticides, and refrigerants—and last in the environment for decades, hundreds, even thousands of years. They are building up in the environment and steadily accumulating in our water, food - and in our bodies. These compounds play havoc with human physiology, with effects that include cancer, infertility, immune suppression, birth defects, and stillbirths. In wildlife, these chemicals cause decreased fertility, behavioral abnormalities, compromised immune systems, and monstrous defects, such as fish born with both male and female sex organs but incapable of reproduction.
  
  Moving away from chlorine-bleached paper can help reduce the amount of organochlorines that pollute our environment today.Paul Hawken's "The Ecology of Commerce, A Declaration of Sustainability", is available at most bookstores. Click here to buy the book, The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken.

• How much paper can be made from a tree?
• Or, alternatively, how many trees are needed to make a given amount of paper?  Considerations when calculating the tree to paper ratio include how the paper was processed—the doubly efficient “groundwood” process for papers like newsprint and telephone directories or the “kraft” (also known as “freesheet”) process for papers like office and printing papers and base sheet for high-quality coated magazine papers—and if the paper is coated or uncoated, as this effects the amount of actual fiber in the paper when you discount the percentage of coating used. 
  Some typical calcuations
  
  1 ton of uncoated virgin (non-recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees
  
  1 ton of 100% virgin (non-recycled) newsprint uses 12 trees
  
  1 ton of coated, higher-end virgin magazine paper (used for magazines like National Geographic and many others) uses a little more than 15 trees (15.36)
  
  1 ton of coated, lower-end virgin magazine paper (used for newsmagazines and most catalogs) uses nearly 8 trees (7.68)
  
  1 ream (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly!)
  
  1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets

• How do you calculate how many trees are saved by using recycled paper? 
• (1) Multiply the number of trees needed to make a ton of the kind of paper you're talking about (groundwood or freesheet), then 
  
  (2) multiply by the percent recycled content in the paper.
  For example,
  
  1 ton (40 cartons) of 30% postconsumer content copier paper saves 7.2 trees
  1 ton of 50% postconsumer content copier paper saves 12 trees.
  
  All the preceding information is from: Conservatree 100 Second Avenue San Francisco, CA 94118 (415)721-4230 Fax: (509) 756-6987 paper@conservatree.com
  
  http://www.conservatree.com Conservatree is an outstanding source of information regarding environmental paper choices.
  
  In addition to the statistics above, consider the following:
  
  It is estimated we have as little as 4-6% forest cover on our planet, compared to what existed as recently as 200 years ago. There is evidence our planet's land surface may have been covered by as much as 60% forest.
  
  Native trees are habitat for many bird species, and other types of animals and wildlife. When we destroy their habitat, birds lose nesting sites, having no place to propagate their offspring. Consequently, their numbers dwindle. When we lose these insect-eaters, insect populations rise. As insect populations rise, we use more pesticides and toxic chemicals.
  
  As we increase the use of chemicals, we become even more laden with toxins in our bodies, increasing the likelihood of cancers and other health-threatening illnesses. Tree Free paper and Processed Chlorine Free paper with post-consumer recycled content alleviate the continued loss of our few remaining native forests.

• About Mohawk Paper here.
• Mohawk Earns FSC Certification for Two 100% Recycled Products
  
  

  COHOES, NY – In a first for the industry, Mohawk Paper Mills, Inc. has received Forest Stewardship Council [FSC] certification for two of its best-selling recycled paper lines: Mohawk Color Copy 100% Recycled and new Options 100% Recycled. Mohawk is the only mill to carry FSC certification on a 100% postconsumer recycled paper grade. Originally applied to virgin-fiber papers, FSC certification is intended to help print buyers ensure that the paper they buy does not come from high-conservation old-growth forests. With this announcement, FSC has embarked on a pilot program to recognize products made with high percentages of postconsumer reclaimed materials.
  
  "We are honored to have our products carry the FSC logo and pleased that FSC has agreed with us that 100% postconsumer waste is the ultimate expression of environmental responsibility," commented George Milner, Mohawk's Senior Vice President of Environmental Affairs. "As the commitment to corporate environmental and social responsibility has grown, more designers and print buyers are demanding products that reduce consumption of natural resources. The FSC certification has become increasingly important to large paper consumers who advocate sound environmental policies and support the purchase of sustainable products." Mohawk backs up its environmental products with a strong history of environmental stewardship, which includes a commitment to energy conservation and alternative energy. A member of the EPA's Green Power Partnership, Mohawk recently became the first paper mill in North America to manufacture paper with non-polluting wind power. According to Tom O'Connor, Jr., president and C.E.O., "FSC certification is further evidence of the direct and positive impact we are making in providing forward-looking products to our customers while minimizing impact on the environment."
  
  Press Information:
  Client Contact:
  Laura Shore
  Mohawk Paper
  518.233.6208
  shorel@mohawkpaper.com
  Agency Contact:
  Pam Williams
  Williams and House
  860.675.4140
  pwilliams@williamsandhouse.com

• The effect of toner cartridges on ecology
• Worldwide, 150 million “all-in-one” toner cartridges and 400 million inkjet cartridges are bought annually. As little as 25% of all toner cartridges actually get recycled and remanufactured. Inkjet cartridges are very small, but even with an average weight of 0.2 lbs. and a conservative 10% recovery figure, you still have 72 million pounds of inkjet cartridges going to landfills yearly! Each laser toner cartridge spared from the landfill reduces consumption of crude oil -- used to make the plastic in the cartridge -- (U.S. EPA estimates), by as much as ONE PINT! A cartridge can be recycled and remanufactured many times over. The average weight of an empty laser cartridge is 3 pounds. Subtracting the aftermarket share worldwide (25% of 150 million, leaving 112.5 million) and the OEM recovery rate (25% of 112.5 million, leaving 84.4 million), over a quarter billion pounds of toner cartridges needlessly end up in landfills each year! At an average size of .1458 cu. ft., the space consumed by 84.4 million cartridges is 12,305,520 cu. ft.—space that could be used for other purposes. Laid end to end, they span over 16,000 miles! It is simple things that add up to big differences in the sustainability of our planet. Please buy remanufactured toner cartridges. For additional information, see https://www.dolphinblue.com/gsa/tcart.html.

• Conservation Conundrums: Why Does Recycled Paper Cost More?
• We all know buying recycled paper is the right thing to do. It conserves forests, saves energy, and reduces global warming. It prevents air and water pollution. And it gives the paper we're recycling in our homes and offices a place to go. In fact, given all it saves, recycled paper should be both the best and cheapest option around. So how come it still costs more? If we were to look at the environmental costs, costs to human health, costs to habitat of fellow species, and societal costs, I think we could honestly say recycled paper does not cost more. Government subsidies to the timber industry on the tax-payer’s dime, the cost of the loss of fisheries due to sedimentation of streams because of clear-cutting forests, siltation of formerly-fertile and productive marine breeding grounds, and the loss of biodiversity due to replanting of monoculture species makes the actual price tag of virgin paper much higher than how it appears.
  
  The process to create recycled paper costs more (even though so much less energy is used, so much water is saved, and so much pollution is prevented) because of the fluctuating prices of raw recycled paper, the additional cost of sorting and de-inking the recycled paper, and the flooding of domestic markets with foreign, cheap wood pulp. The most important thing to remember: it's critical that consumers continue to recycle paper and seek recycled paper products, even though they currently cost a little more. Increasing demand coupled with new government policies and investment is the only way we're going to stop turning our forests into "stick-y notes", and start turning our wastes into something better
  
  For more information about recycled paper, visit http://www.conservatree.com. “Conservation Conundrums: Why Does Recycled Paper Cost More?” is from: Conservatree 100 Second Avenue San Francisco, CA 94118 (415)721-4230 Fax: (509) 756-6987 paper@conservatree.com
  
  Conservatree is an outstanding source of information regarding environmental paper choices. Check them out.

• Chlorine...What Is it?
• Chlorine—a toxic, yellow-green gas known to consumers as being used as a bleaching agent for paper and an ingredient in household cleaners—was condemned by the American Public Health Association on October 27, 1993, in an unanimous resolution urging American industry to stop the use of chlorine. When used to bleach paper, chlorine reacts with the cellulose fibers in wood and a natural material called lignin that the tree uses to hold the fibers together, and produces the most toxic substances ever created—dioxins and organochlorines. Dioxins—the most carcinogenic chemical known to science—and organochlorines—which mimic our bodies’ hormones, causing disastrous effects like reduced fertility, cancer, and endocrine disruption—are released into the environment by paper mills and can be found in every man, woman, and child in doses well above the EPA’s “safe” levels. Instead of using this poison process, paper can easily be whitened by using hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydrosulphite, a safe bleaching agent that works as well as chlorine, but produces only oxygen and water. In order to protect your family from the hazards of chlorine, buy from companies like Seventh Generation, DolphinBlue.com, or any other company offering Processed Chlorine-Free paper products to protect our environment and prevent the release of dioxins that poison our air, water, and food. To learn more about the dangers of chlorine, get in touch with some of these organizations:
  
  Greenpeace International 1436 U Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009. (202) 462-1177 http://www.greenpeace.org
  
  Reach for Unbleached Box 39, Waletown, BC, Canada, V0P 1Z0. (250) 935-6992 email: info@rfu.org http://www.rfu.org
  
  Center for Health, Environment & Justice P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040. (703) 237-2249 email: cchw@essential.org
  
  The Chlorine Free Products Association 102 North Hubbard, Algonquin, IL 60102. http://www.chlorinefreeproducts.org
  
  Information in this article from: Seventh Generation, Inc. 212 Battery Street Suite A Burlington, VT 05401-5281 phone 802.658.3773 fax 802.658.1771 http://www.seventhgeneration.com
  
  99% of all white office paper is bleached heavily with chlorine gas or some form of chlorine. Research has shown chlorine to be an endocrine disruptor, and when chlorine is mixed with virgin wood pulp, other toxins like DIOXIN, organochlorines, and furans are formed. These are toxins dangerous to human health, and to all living creatures. They usually end up exiting paper mills as effluent, entering our waterways.
  
  Our envelopes and New Life DP 100 Office Copy Paper are whitened with Hydrogen Peroxide, which is environmentally benign.
  
  By purchasing our PCF Envelopes and New Life DP 100 Copy Paper, you are not only saving forest habitat, you are also helping clean up our water ecosystems by supporting an environmentally responsible paper mill that uses no chlorine in the making of paper used for our envelopes.
  
  And, please check out our other PCF paper products.

• Why Population Growth and Consumption Rates Matter to the Future of Forests
• The world's forests provide goods and services essential to human and planetary well-being. But the world’s population is growing, and with it, consumption. This creates a problem as more and more of the planet’s forested areas get converted to other uses—particularly as areas to accommodate humans and their growing need for stuff. Due both to deforestation and human population growth, the current ratio of forests to human beings is less than half what it was in 1960. We need forests more than ever before¬ to protect the world's remaining plant and animal life, to prevent flooding, to slow human-induced climate change, and to provide the paper on which education and communication still depend. More efficient consumption of forest products—reducing one’s overall use of paper and packaging or buying recycled paper instead of virgin—and eventual stabilization of human population¬ will be needed to conserve the world's forests in the coming millennium.

• More Information About Phthalates
• According to the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, phthalates are a group of chemicals used in hundreds of products, such as toys, detergents, food packaging, and personal care products, such as nail polish, hair sprays, soaps, and shampoos. Phthalates have been detected in food and also measured in humans. The EPA is concerned about phthalates because of their toxicity and the evidence of pervasive human and environmental exposure to these chemicals. Adverse effects on the development of the reproductive system in male laboratory animals are the most sensitive health outcomes from phthalate exposure. Congress has permanently banned three types of phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP) in any amount greater than 0.1 percent in children's toys and certain child care articles. Congress has also placed an interim ban on three additional types of phthalates (DINP, DIDP, DnOP) in any amount greater than 0.1 percent in a children's toy that can be placed in a child's mouth and child care articles. However, toys that cannot be put in the mouth, but can be licked, are not included in the ban.
  
  When buying toys and other products for children, it is important to be aware of the potential hazards that such chemicals can have on a child’s still-developing body. Buying your child toys from socially and environmentally responsible companies like Dolphin Blue that are clearly labeled as free of phthalates and other chemicals will bring you and your family not only peace of mind, but also hours of family fun.
  
  Information for this article is from:
  
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Phthalates Action Plan Summary http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/phthalates.html
  
  The Food and Drug Administration—Phthalates and Cosmetic Products http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productandingredientsafety/selectedcosmeticingredients/ucm128250.htm
  
  United States Consumer Product Safety Commission—Phthalates http://www.cpsc.gov/phthalates