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It's The Little Things - Paper

Every Little Bit Helps - To Save Trees
Saving trees starts with reducing our paper usage, but there are other ways to make a difference too.  Another big step we can take to keep our planet green is to make sure that we purchase wood that is harvested in a responsible manner from sources that are not old growth forests.  Buying food products that were grown using environmentally conscious farming practices can also help preserve trees.

What Makes It Green?
Protecting our trees is an important part of keeping the earth beautiful.  It is also critical in keeping our air clean and reducing pollutants like carbon dioxide (CO2).  Trees provide oxygen and use CO2 from the air.  They also provide food, shelter and nesting sites to a large number of birds, insects and wildlife. Ultimately, trees play an important role in keeping the environment in balance.     

What You Can Do
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
  • Buy the highest level of post-consumer, recycled paper available. From toilet paper to notebooks, look for the % of recycled and/or post-consumer materials on the packaging.
  • Print sparingly. When you do need hard copy of a document, be sure it has been printed and/or copied on both sides.
  • Class it up with cloth napkins. Reusable napkins can be washed and reused indefinitely.
  • Use old T-shirts, towels or reusable micro-fiber clothes for cleaning instead of paper towels and disposable dusting clothes.
  • Cut down on the amount of junk mail that you get by taking your name off of mailing lists and grocery store circulars.
  • Pay bills on-line via E-Pay and opt for paperless billing via email.
  • Buy wood products that have been manufactured from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood.
  • Buy products grown on farms with responsible growing practices - that don't clear cut forests to make fields for crops.
  • Buy a live Christmas tree and plant it after the holiday - not only will you be reducing the amount of trees cut down, but you will also be adding a new tree to the environment.
didyouknow
According to the Sundance Channel, if every US home viewed and paid its bills online, we'd reduce solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year.

handson
I registered on cataglogchoice.org and cut the number of catalogs I received drastically.  Some stores had been sending me a new book every few weeks.  Once I put them on the list, I didn't get them again.
 
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