Reduce Global Paper Consumption
and Promote Fair Access to Paper
- Encourage high utility, low volume paper use and find ways for people currently below the paper poverty line to share the benefits paper can bring.
- Develop and promote creative and innovative systems, designs and technologies that reduce the consumption of fibre and maximise efficiency.
- Proactively work with consumers to educate them to eliminate unnecessary paper consumption.
- Explore alternatives to paper, but understand and avoid negative impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, from plastic, digital, and other alternatives.
Relevant Reports
News and Resources Related to Reducing Consumption
Final Paper Reduction Rules by U.S. Department of Labor Will Save Billions of Dollars, Preserve Right to a Paper Option
The Environmental Paper Network supports the efforts of the United States Department of Labor to modernize the delivery of retirement plan information and the final rule: Default Electronic Disclosure by Employee Pension Benefit Plans Under the Employee Retirement...
It’s Time for the U.S. Paper and Packaging Board to Tell the Whole Story
Applauding the growing call for more transparency in US commodity checkoff programs Tyson Miller, Forests Campaign Director, Stand.earth Anne Pernick, Reducing Consumption Coordinator, Environmental Paper Network Beth Porter, Climate Campaigns Director, Green America...
Two ways to get companies to waste less paper over the holidays
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash Heading into the year-end holidays our list of to-do’s may include some gift-giving, some special cooking, and a lot of trying to save the world with our individual choices to cut consumption and avoid throwaway products and packaging....
The Fascinating and Useful Science of Human Behavior and Paper Reduction
From 2017-2019, Root Solutions trained more than 20 higher education institutions in how to use behavioral insights to save paper. The behavioral sciences - including research from the fields of cognitive science, conservation psychology, behavioral economics, social...
Introducing #UnwrapTheTruth, A Call to Action to End Wasteful Use of Paper and Packaging
I don't know if you're like me...I love holding and reading a good paperback book, and then passing it on to a friend. All of us probably appreciate other high value uses of paper too, for art, education, sanitation and more. But having walked through enough...
The Facts about the Paper Calculator
As the owner and manager of the Paper Calculator, the Environmental Paper Network would like to take this opportunity to address recent communications from paper industry-related groups that include misleading and inaccurate information regarding the Paper Calculator....
Bank of America life cycle study finds digital statements reduce environmental impact vs. paper
Last year, Bank of America set out to follow a scientific method and seek independent review of a life cycle assessment study to calculate the comparative carbon emissions and water consumption impacts of digital statements compared to paper statements. The results of...
Event Highlights: Paper Saving – Packaging in Focus
Paper packaging is the main driver of the persistently high paper consumption in Germany, and around the world. The majority is used to support the booming online retail sector. In 2017, for example, almost half of German paper consumption was for packaging (9.9...
The Paper and Packaging Boom: A Growing Wave Of Pulp Production Threatens The World’s Forests And Climate
At a time when forest protection to fight climate change is a clear and critical opportunity, we are seeing plans and investments for quite the opposite. After over two years of stagnation, the virgin pulp industry is booming. The list that follows below, highlights...
Megan Byers on stopping unwanted phone books
Do you know how much money the public spends to manage phone books in the U.S.? Or how many trees are lost to make them? Hear from Megan Byers in this video on the many big impacts of unwanted phone books. Megan is the Associate for Policy, Programs, and Outreach at...
Brett Chamberlin on the impact of stopping our junk mail
Unwanted junk mail is more than a nuisance; it's the cause of a great deal of waste. Hear from Brett Chamberlin of The Story of Stuff Project about the many reasons we should opt out of junk mail. Brett runs the Catalog Choice program which helps individuals and large...
Root Solutions on behavioral science and promoting sustainable choices.
When we ask people to make sustainable choices, too often we're still asking in the wrong way. We're ignoring what motivates people to change their behaviors. Hear from Nya Van Leuvan and Lauren Highleyman of Root Solutions on why it's critical to bring behavioral...