Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Issue 579 The Effort to Reduce Paper April 28, 2015

Paper alternatives have been on the upswing.  Mainly because trees have gained valuable importance due to the belief in global warming.  So what has been done to reduce paper usage and thus, protect us from too much CO2?

Paper alternatives:

1) Use of electronics:  As you have seen, people have been using electronic media more and more.  I could even say it is in the transitional phase where traditional paper books are becoming less and less popular as you can store an entire library on a single computer, for much cheaper cost.  Offices have also gone paper free in an effort to reduce costs, such as using email over memos, and similar practices where paper is only used when deemed absolutely necessary.  

2) The toilet:  France, has a toilet that actually sprays water on your butt.  Yes, you get squirted.  This is set up to spray off the dingle berries on your rear without using paper products (it even has a dryer).  

3) Plastic/rubber alternatives:  There is also a myriad of products that once used wood based products, but are now using plastic or rubber.  Actually, they have made thin sheets of paper made out of plastic material.  


Conclusion:  This is a small sampling of what is being done, with the youth of each country pushing the technology further with their ever stronger beliefs in conservation and environmentalism.  But we also must remember that if we replace paper, we use something else instead, i.e. plastic made from oil, or plants, or water as in the case of that sprayer toilet.  Also, there is other byproducts such as toxic chemicals used to make those computers, which is potentially just as damaging if not more so to the environment than wood based ones.  So there is a balance and lifestyle choices to be made and kept in mind.

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