International Paper recently distributed a brochure called Down to Earth: A Practical Look at Environmental Issues and Trends.  The brochure aims to debunk some of the myths about the use of paper and how it effects the environment, both negatively and positively.  Obviously, IP is a paper distributor, so they are going to be on the side of using paper over electronic transmissions, but some of their points are very interesting and worth talking about.

One section is titled Are Pixels Greerer than Paper?  At first glance, most would say “DUH” but when you really look at the hard data, it isn’t so simple.  One fact that jumped out at me is that “20% less CO2 is used per year by a person reading a daily printed newspaper versus a person reading web-based news for 30 minutes a day.”  That single fact really opened my mind to the idea that “going green” isn’t always the best thing for the environment. 

It is easy to assume that paper is a waste.  For many of us (me for sure) our computers are always on, so we assume it is better to read the paper or pay our bills on the web.  The idea of buying a newspaper, reading it, and throwing it away feel very wasteful.  That being said, when you really look at the data, energy used to “browse” the web is not renewable or recyclable – once it’s used, its gone.

Think about this:

“It costs an estimated $2.8 billion [in] energy to leave computers sitting idle overnight in the U.S. alone. On a CO2 basis, that’s 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, about the amount produced by four million cars on the road.”

Paper on the other hand is a renewable source.  In fact, the brochure notes, “One of the great things about paper is that its primary raw materials are renewable. The paper and forest products industry replenishes more than it takes and ensures the sustainability of our forests by planting 1.7 million trees every single day, more than three times what is harvested. And the U.S. Dept. of Energy has stated that the carbon sequestered on forested lands in 2006 was greater than the carbon released from harvesting wood over the same period.”

Have I at least got you thinking differently about paper?  Since we are in the printing industry, we are always asked about more “green” materials or printing methods.  What we have ultimately found is that most companies don’t want to pay the high premium to become more eco-friendly, and the energy used to create “green” materials usually takes more energy than traditional methods, therefore being less friendly to the environment. 

We are also always asked if we are worried that more things will become digitized, reducing the need for printed items like labels.  Sure, some things will move to the web, but ultimately, people still have to label products and use tangible goods (brochures, labels, business cards, etc.) to promote their business or ideas.

The bottom line with this debate is that as consumers, we can’t just take everything at face value.  Before reading this brochure, I would have never thought I’d be writing a post like this, but after looking at the evidence there is some strong data supporting the use of paper over electronic methods.  The internet has certainly made things faster and easier, but that doesn’t mean it uses less energy or is better for the environment. 

What do you think about this debate?