Reduce your use of paper and wood products by 25 percent this year.
We can't say it enough: Deforestation is a significant contributor to climate change, and the global demand for wood- and paper-based products is a major cause of deforestation around the world.
In order to produce timber and paper products, primary forests are cleared through cutting and burning, plantations are established, and plantation trees are harvested.
But wait, does that mean plantations are bad? Not always, but they aren't as good as natural forests, and most of them aren't great. Fifteen percent of all plantations in the tropics were established on lands where natural forests were cleared immediately prior to planting seedlings.
Converting natural forests to plantations results in carbon dioxide emissions both through the rotting of timber and plants wasted by inefficient harvest practices, and through the long-term breakdown of wood products in landfills.
Make a Difference Every Day But remember, sustainably managed plantations are often established on degraded lands, and because demand for plantation forest products provides economic stability for maintenance of these forests, sustainably produced forest products can be considered carbon neutral. Don't worry, we'll show you how to find sustainably managed wood in just a bit.
Keep this in mind: If just one person commits to reducing their forest product use by 25 percent this year, they will prevent about 0.3 metric tons (about 700 pounds) of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. If half of all Americans made this commitment, we would keep more than 48 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted – the same amount that would be saved if more than 568,000 cars had never come off the assembly line.
The "How To" We've got two main suggestions on this one:
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Reduce the total amount of paper and wood products you buy and use each year.
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Use more sustainable products such as recycled paper, reclaimed woods and sustainably harvested wood products.
So here's the deal: grab reusable mugs and plates instead of paper ones, read documents online instead of printing them out, print double-sided when you need hard copies…basically, use less stuff! You can also increase the recycled content of your paper by buying recycled printer paper, note books and other paper products. Ask your office, school and friends to switch to recycled paper. And of course, recycle the paper you use, so more recycled paper keeps coming down the pike.
As for wood products, there are a few key things to do. First, when you buy lumber, wood furniture and the like, don't buy products made from tropical woods. Tropical forests store more carbon, support more species and are under greater threat than domestic forests.
And if you decide you must have imported wood, look for:
Or, consider using reclaimed wood products which reduce demand for timber and keep discarded wood out of the landfill.