Producing a tonne of virgin paper gobbles nearly twice as much energy as recycled paper. Recycled paper only creates a fraction of the greenhouse gases or virgin paper 1,790 kg per tonne compared with 7,200 kg/tonne because waste paper in landfill creates methane.

WATER is also used in the manufacture of paper to break down the raw material - slushing waste paper uses much less water than pulping wood. Making one tonne of recycled office paper uses 10,000 to 12,000 L of water, while the same amount of virgin paper swallows roughly twice that, at 20,000 to 25,000 L.

BLEACHING chlorine is commonly used to whiten paper, but it produces highly toxic by-products called organochlorins. look for more environment -friendly
options: virgin paper that carries the TCF label (totally chlorine free) or recycled paper marked PCF (processed chlorine free. Recycled paper is more environment-friendly in just about every way. To
support the market for recycling services look for paper made from a high proportion of post-consumer waste. We can only recycle each fibre about
seven times. Every time you recycle a fibre you damage it, so ultimately you’ve got to bring in virgin fibres. (Source G Magazine, Issue 3, May/June, 2007 ‘Virgin Vs Recycled Office
paper’ , www.gmagazine.com.au. G Magazine walks the talk.

ACTION: Make a choice to buy reams of paper with a high recycled component
for printers and home offices etc.