Tree Free

Why go tree free?

DEFORESTATION

120 Billion tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) has been released due to deforestation.

Of the trees harvested globally for industrial uses, Nearly half goes to pulp and paper production.

U.S. Paper producers alone consume 1 Billion trees – or 12,430 Sq. Miles of Forests EVERY YEAR, while producing 735 pounds of paper for every American.

Less than 20% of the world's original forest cover remains intact, and much of what does remain is already threatened by commercial logging.

In order to produce a metric ton of traditional wood pulp papers, an average of four metric tons of wood chips is utilized, which is the equivalent of felling approximately 23 large trees.

Although about 30% of the world's wood pulp supply now comes from tree farms, by and large forest-harvested timber still dominates supply. In truth, even if artificial tree plantations have taken some pressure off deforestation, tree farms host about 90% fewer animal species than the natural forests that preceded them.

WATER QUALITY

220 Million Pounds of toxic pollution are released into the air, ground and water each year thanks to the pulp and paper industry, which is the third largest industrial polluter in both Canada and the U.S.

3 Million Tons of Chlorine is used annually to bleach wood pulp white.

Chlorine Bleach is a major source of the potent carcinogen dioxin, which can now be found throughout the world in the air, water, soil and food.

**Statistics are from The Paper Chase by Jim Motavalli, Editor of E/The Environmental Magazine www.emagazine.com or to read The Paper Chase http://www.emagazine.com/?toc&issue=68