RECYCLED CONTENT IN TEXTBOOKS PROJECT
UNIVERSITY PRESSES, PAPER PRINCIPLES AND FOREST MANAGEMENT
Currently,
90% of the world’s paper is manufactured from wood pulp, causing the pulp
and paper industry to emerge as the largest single industrial wood consumer
in the US and in the world. It takes
2 to 3.5 tons of trees to make one ton of paper.
Making paper uses more water per ton than any other product in the
world. It also produces high levels
of air and water pollution to make a product that is usually used once and
thrown away.
University
of Oregon’s Campus Recycling recently embarked on a research project to investigate
the use of recycled content paper in textbooks. The project had three goals:
·
to
investigate paper usage in textbook production
·
to
develop grassroots strategies that stimulate demand for use of recycled content
material in university press productions
·
to
create a toolkit for use on campuses nationwide that provides information
and resources for faculty and students on how to stimulate demand for publishing
practices with less environmental impact
·
There
are individuals and companies within the publication industry making concerted
efforts to use materials with the least environmental impact including; printers,
paper manufacturing companies, and alternative paper suppliers.
·
There
are people within the university press community working to make publication
projects more environmentally sustainable, and others interested in collaborative
efforts to make it happen.
·
The
demand for publications with least environmental impact must come from several
sides: printers, publishers, editors, professors and students.
·
It
is crucial to understand particular university press publishing processes
to know where change in paper procurement policies can take place.
| PAPER CHAIN | PAPER PRODUCTION | TIMBER HARVESTING |
| FOREST MANAGEMENT | ALTERNATIVES AND SOLUTIONS | CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS: A CASE STUDY |
| FOREST CERTIFICATION | TOOLKIT | RESOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY |
“The forests fall victim to our passion and comfort and
inability to control our numbers. We
have taken it upon ourselves to decide how much forest the planet needs and
how much we need. Godspeed for the
day when the forest will decide the issue of our numbers.”
As technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, so many
of us have hoped the use of electronic equipment in our offices, schools,
and homes would diminish this demand. However, these cyber-driven machines
have actually increased our consumption. Hewlett-Packard estimates that 860
billion pieces of paper were spit out of fax machines, copiers, and printers
in 1996. In 1997 the overall consumption of copier paper by the Federal Government
alone (one of the US's single largest consumers of office paper) amounted
to a total of 20.1 billion sheets. In some countries, including the US, paper
accounts for nearly 40% of all municipal solid waste despite the overwhelming
misconception that we are a recycling nation. No one could have imagined 100
years ago the extreme devastation that both society’s insatiable consumption
and industry's rapid growth could have projected onto our forest ecosystems.
As forests are being depleted of their trees, there are many related consequences
that have far-reaching implications much worse than the barren landscape we
so often witness now. Unless demand shifts to other products and other fibers,
we will live on a planet without native forests and the biological controls
they offer us.
THE PAPER CHAIN
A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE
Where does the paper that you
read in the form of books come from?
·
When your professor was finished writing, he/she submitted
a proposal to various publishers who are recognized for taking on projects
with similar interests.
·
The acquisitions editor at a particular publication
house (i.e., a university press) becomes interested in your professor’s writing,
and has the project reviewed by different academic boards to ensure that the
research is sound, and that it is worthy of publication.
·
The publication house decides to publish the project
based on the board reviews.
·
The acquisitions editor submits the project to the
manuscript editing department of the publication house.
·
The manuscript editing department copy edits the project,
then sends it to the production department.
·
The production department typesets the project, and
chooses a printer.
·
The production department sends the typeset manuscript
to the chosen printer.
·
The printer does the printing and bookbinding.
·
The book is published and distributed by a university
press.
On one of the first pages of your book, a publishing company is listed: Cambridge University Press ( www.us.cambridge.org ), Harvard University Press ( www.hup.harvard.edu ), and Cornell University Press ( www.cornellpress.cornell.edu ) are a few examples that are commonly used. When the university presses contract to printers, they usually let the printer order their own paper from their own sources, thus keeping the overall costs low for everyone involved. So, quite surprisingly, most presses don’t actually work with the raw paper your textbook is created on, and therefore don’t know where that paper came from or what kinds of fibers were used in its production.
Where does the printer get the paper?
There are paper mills, like Fort James ( www.fortjames.com
), who buy pulp from the open market. They make paper, and sell it to paper
manufacturers, like Glatfelter ( www.glatfelter.com
). Glatfelter then sells the paper to different printing companies, usually
through a distributor. Thompson-Shore ( www.thomson-shore.com
) is an example of a well-known book printing company.
The pulping companies obtain the wood ingredients for making pulp from various
timber companies and pulp from post-consumer paper products. Timber companies,
such as Willamette Industries , either own land from which their loggers harvest
trees with pulping in mind, or obtain contracts to harvest timber initially
for lumber products and then use the leftover wood chips for pulping. These
trees are a part of public or private forest lands, with various laws and
regulations governing the harvesting of each.
PAPER PRODUCTION
The structural basis of paper is cellulose, the principal
structural material in plant cells. Throughout the ages cellulose has been
extracted from wood, papyrus, flax, cotton, hemp, various grasses, sugar cane,
and several other fibrous plants for the manufacture of paper and other pulp-derived
products. The use of wood as a source of pulp dates from the late 19th
century, when it replaced cotton as the dominant raw material for paper and
remains the primary source today. In general, the longer the cellulose fibers
are, the stronger the paper product will be. Coniferous trees (softwoods) such as pines
and Douglas-firs have fibers nearly twice the length, and thus strength, of
deciduous trees (hardwoods) such as oaks. It is for this reason that softwood
fibers are preferred for strong paper and paperboard, such as grocery bags
and boxes, whereas hardwood fibers are preferred for smooth paper production. Using a blend of hardwood and softwood fibers,
such as oak and pine, gives the ideal strength and consistency of common notebook
paper.
TIMBER
HARVESTING
Existing regulations govern each stage of timber harvest. There is a common process modified by local regulations that is
generally followed. When timber companies are contracted to harvest wood for
lumber companies or pulp mills, a contract is drawn up specifying the logging
conditions, including which trees are to be removed, which are to remain,
what structures need to be built, among many other conditions. Using bulldozers and skidders (a skidder is
a machine much like a bulldozer but built with the capability of transporting
debris through the forest), loggers construct roads, skidtrails, stream crossings,
landings, and other structures necessary for the export of harvested timber.
The trees are then felled and dragged from the forest to a central processing
area, called a landing, using the skidder. At the landing the trees are sorted
and prepared for transport to mills or storage facilities. In the case of timber harvest for the pulping
industry, sometimes in-woods chippers are used so that the wood chips can
be created on-site and delivered directly to the pulp mill.
HISTORICAL FOREST MANAGEMENT
POOR MANAGEMENT PRACTICES HAVE DISASTROUS ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS
Throughout
the history of timber harvesting, many types of logging have evolved with
a wide range of effects on the ecosystem. Clear cutting, seed tree harvesting,
thinning, selective harvesting or salvage harvesting have all been implemented
at various times with different management results in mind, often with various
detrimental effects on the forest. The implications of these damages can be
observed not only in forest ecosystems, but aquatic ecosystems and human populations
downstream as well.
| SOIL COMPACTION | DOWNSTREAM FLOODING |
| SOIL EROSION | RIPARIAN ZONE DEGRADATION |
| SPREAD OF FUNGAL DISEASE | LOSS OF WILDLIFE HABITAT |
| BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES | . |
SOIL COMPACTION INCREASES WATER RUNOFF
As the life support of the forest ecosystem, soil integrity is
the first aspect to be affected by logging, often leading to the greatest
overall extent of environmental damage. As road construction takes place to
export harvested timber, bare mineral soil rich in nutrients and microbial
life is exposed in some places and compacted in others.
This double-edged sword is quick to cut away at forest health for many
reasons. Primarily, road pathways gets compacted to such a great extent by
heavy equipment that the infiltration of water into the soil surface is completely
stopped, a condition known as impervious soil. Since water is not able to
penetrate the soil surface, there are immediate and drastic effects on water
runoff and watershed quality within that site. Impervious soil not only leads
to greater volumes of runoff, it drastically increases the velocity, duration,
and frequency of that water flow. This situation is amplified by harvested
sites where trees and vegetation that normally soak up the water have been
removed, destroyed, or slash burned. A recent case study by Dennis Harr at
the University of Washington showed that clear cut sites produced 90% more
water runoff than plots in mature nearby forests, and even young replanted
forests produced up to 40% more water runoff than mature nearby forests.
DOWNSTREAM FLOODING
Considering the results from Harr’s study and where the water from the runoff
must flow, it is not surprising that flooding is directly related to timber
harvesting. As stream volume increases so drastically due to greater volumes
of water runoff, downstream sites get compounded effects because the further
you are downstream the more tributaries and runoffs there are contributing
to the river volume. It was reported after record precipitation in Oregon
and Washington in the 1990-1991 season that downstream flooding was exacerbated
by clear cutting of the upper reaches of the watersheds in the National Forests
of the Cascades. Every river in Washington except the Nisqually, where no
logging occurred, flooded that year.
STREAM SEDIMENTATION FROM SOIL EROSION
With a greatly increased volume and velocity of water runoff at a site, top
soils across the forest floor and exposed mineral soil (created from road
construction) are eroded and quickly transported downhill and deposited into
streams. This process of sedimentation flushes the necessary nutrients and
minerals from the soil directly into streams, not only degrading soil qualities
but also creating extensive damage to the river ecosystem. The creation of
stream crossings has been a source of extensive sedimentation as well, especially
in poorly designed crossings.
RIPARIAN ZONE DEGRADATION
When the trees surrounding a stream or river are harvested, there are
disastrous results because the degradation of these areas, designated as riparian
zones, leads to the greatest potentials of stream sedimentation. Riparian
vegetation is present, it effectively serves as a natural water filter of
runoff before it enters a stream. By stopping some sediment and debris from
entering the stream ecosystem, riparian zones play an integral protection
role in the stream ecosystem. When these areas are harvested, sedimentation
increases immensely and drastically affects the river ecosystem. Not only
does riparian vegetation help to buffer stream ecosystems from sedimentation,
the broad tree canopies provide shade that helps keep the passing water at
ideal temperatures. Fallen leaves from these trees also supply
an energy source for aquatic life by providing a food and energy source for
microorganisms that decompose leaf matter. With a plentiful stock of microorganisms,
there will be an abundant supply of larger critters that feed on microorganisms,
and thus a large number of fish that feed on the critters- and now an intricate
food web is spun. So when riparian zones are harvested or destroyed by poor
logging techniques, the forest and stream ecosystems are affected at many
levels.
SPREAD OF FUNGAL DISEASES
Another problem that the logging industry has manifested is the spread
of fungal diseases. Fungi of all sorts
are found is forest soils everywhere in the world, a great percentage actually
promote forest health through interactions with their communities.
However, some can be severely detrimental to the strength and health
of certain tree species, such as Port Orford Cedar Root Rot and White Pine
Blister Rust. Under normal conditions most soil fungi are able to spread a
few meters per year, thus keeping their detrimental effects within a limited
space. Fungal diseases can be dispersed by logging equipment as well. When
soil is overturned during road construction and harvesting, it can stick to
the wheels of the skidders and bulldozers, and likewise can fall off anywhere
that machinery travels. Thus, harmful soil fungi can be dispersed across broad
ranges, including non-native areas where the effects can be amplified by the
infection of nonresistant trees.
LOSS OF WILDLIFE HABITAT
As a final note on the detrimental effects of logging, species biodiversity
is greatly reduced because wildlife habitat is destroyed. Particular species
of birds, insects, fungi, and other forest animals inhabit specific portions
of a characteristic forest. For instance, some birds only nest in old growth
snags and some insects inhabit only specific softwood species at particular
developmental stages. Selective harvesting and clear cutting take out specific
species or take out all species in an area, thus destroying habitat area for
a great amount of organisms.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES HELP REGULATE POOR MANAGING
Water runoff, sedimentation, riparian degradation, fungal
disease spread, and loss of wildlife habitat are all severe effects of poor
forest management practices. Over the course of the last decade the importance
of our natural resources has been realized and federal intervention has occurred
to make timber companies responsible for their actions. Many regulations,
such as the EPA’s Best Management Practices have forced loggers to implement
ecological measures. For instance, leaving buffer zones in riparian areas
helps maintain river quality, and constructing stream crossings perpendicular
to rivers minimizes sedimentation. The implementation of water bars has also
begun in some harvested sites that are prone to great amounts of runoff. Water
bars are basically mounds of soil running laterally across a hill that help
to divert water runoff toward more forested areas where vegetation root mass
and topsoil layers help soak it up. While many other measures that minimize
the disastrous effects of harvesting have been implemented at every stage,
the process of timber harvesting is slowly evolving toward a mind frame that
accounts for both economic and environmental sustainability.
ALTERNATIVES AND SOLUTIONS
Although alternatives exist, the pulp and paper industry still
depend on trees as a primary source for pulp production. These trees come from lands of private ownership,
as well as state and federally owned land. Over the years, clear-cut logging and other poor harvest practices
have greatly degraded the overall health of forest environments.
| RECYCLED FIBERS | HEMP |
| KENAF |
RECYCLED FIBERS
For links
to recycled paper explanations and terminology, check out the following links:
http://www.conservatree.com/learn/Papermaking/Definitions.shtml
http://www.newleafpaper.com/terminology.html
·
Reasons
to buy recycled paper
·
The
significance of recycled paper
·
Common
myths about recycled paper
is available at http://www.conservatree.com/paper/PaperTypes/RecyBrochure.shtml
HEMP http://www.rca-info.org/alts/hemp.html |
CASE STUDY ON
CERTIFICATION: CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
In creating a partnership among Lyons Falls Pulp and Paper,
Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group ( www.maple-vail.com),
and a regional SmartWood ( www.smartwood.org
) certification initiative, Cornell University
Press has pioneered a way to publish books on paper that has been certified
to have come from a well-managed forest.
The SmartWood certification system works as a member of the Forest
Stewardship Council ( www.fscus.org ) and thus
is able to provide the FSC label for books that have been published using
wood pulp from the forests managed by Lyons Falls. This is the first example
of the creation of a paper grade that is of book publishing quality that is
also FSC certified.
See the complete story on Cornell University Press.
TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO FORESTRY CERTIFICATION
FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL: An independent organization that promotes environmentally responsible management of the world’s forests by establishing a worldwide standard of recognized and respected Principles of Forest Stewardship used in conjunction with national and international laws.
http://fscus.org/
http://fscus.org/standards_policies/principles_criteria/index.html
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE: A certification
system through the American Forest and Paper Association that provides member
forest managers with a specific roadmap to expand the practice of sustainable
forestry and performance through the developed Standard Objectives
http://www.afandpa.org/
forestcertification.pdf
ACTION STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS
Below are suggestions for promoting environmentally sustainable
publishing practices within the campus community. Students are incredible sources of energy and
activism, and can be pioneers in consumer demand for more sustainable book
publishing practices.
BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE PAPER CHAIN
q
What textbook papers are available for university press
publications?
q
What papers do particular printers offer?
q
Where does the pulp originate?
q
If there is a press on your campus, establish contact with
the production manager. This person is most likely the one responsible for
paper procurement issues and printing processes specific to their press publications,
and can be a good source of information.
q
If there is not a press on your campus, find out where publishing
services happen. Is there another
university press that publication projects go to? Professors and college bookstores are good
sources for this information.
q
Lobby professors and faculty to ask their publishers about
the paper used in scholarly publications; encourage faculty to demand specific
paper procurement standards in publication projects.
q
What paper does the press currently use?
q
Which companies supply the paper?
q
How is paper ordered? Through
suppliers, merchants, distributors?
q
What are the current costs, and in what terms? This is good information to have when you contact
alternative suppliers and they ask if you want costs in terms of sheets, rolls,
etc. In addition, you can share with
them what the current costs of the press are and they can try to work with
you on establishing a competitive price plan that your press will go for.
q
What are the alternative paper options? Do your homework, and find paper suppliers
and manufacturers that make papers that fit the specific needs of the university
press.
q
If price is an issue, think about ways that this can change—increasing
consumer demand, buying paper in large quantities, collaborating with other
presses to create cooperative buying clubs that can decrease paper prices.
q
Understand the risks involved for university presses.
If the press insists that the financial risks involved in incorporating
alternative papers are too costly, suggest doing a case study example!
They could complete a publishing project using one of the alternative
papers that you have suggested and use it as a pilot study for problems and
benefits (quality, cost, printing quality, etc.) of alternative papers. This would be a useful tool for not only the
university press community, but also for the paper manufacturer and printer
as well.
q
Create collaborations among the paper manufacturers, suppliers
and your press. If the press orders
paper through a printer, include them in the collaborative effort as well.
q
Seek out individuals that can support you, are willing to
work with you and can provide an active voice in various faculty and department
activities. Good places to start:
q
Environmental Studies
q
Journalism
q
Education
q
Public Planning
q
Business
q
Collaborate with activist groups, campus recycling programs,
environmental organizations, student government groups—generate an interest
for this issue in these groups.
q
An example of successful, diverse student collaboration:
q
Ask them to consider their requirements for books, and to
seek alternative mediums (libraries, Internet) when environmentally sustainable
books are not available.
The process begins with YOUR action. Your words do make an impact.
q
Paper people are
friendly and generally willing to work with consumers to create more sustainable
products. Contact them and ask how
you can best promote their products at your institution, and what they can
offer specifically for university press publications and services.
The following petition is an example of an educational action strategy. It can be used to gather signatures from students,
faculty and staff members of a campus community in support of environmentally
sustainable publishing and paper procurement policies. With solid research, support from several professors,
and student lobbyists, you can present your petition to the Senate Committee
or similar governing organization at your campus.
PETITION
STOP
THE PRESSES! DEMAND THE USE OF RECYCLED,
TREE-FREE OR CERTIFIED PAPERS IN ALL UNIVERSITY PRESS PRODUCTIONS!!
Currently, 90% of the world’s paper is manufactured from wood pulp, causing the pulp and paper industry to emerge as the largest single industrial wood consumer in the US and in the world. It takes 2 to 3.5 tons of trees to make one ton of paper. Making paper uses more water per ton than any other product in the world. It also produces high levels of air and water pollution to make a product that is usually used once and thrown away.
University presses are a significant consumer of the pulp and paper industry, contributing to the demand on forests for paper and wood products. They publish millions of books and scholarly work, and few (if any) currently use alternatives to virgin wood fibers in their projects. Universities, as institutions of higher education, serve to produce citizens of good stewardship for humanity and the planet. Environmental sustainablility is a part of global stewardship and higher education. University presses who distribute this knowledge should realize that this educational information should be distributed on paper that reflects qualities of environmental stewardship.As students, faculty, and
members of the university community, we demand university presses to reduce
their environmental impact in their contribution to sustainability in higher
education. We demand that university presses implement alternatives to virgin
wood fibers in their press productions by using recycled, tree-free or certified
paper in their publications. Our means to higher education need to reflect
our commitment to reducing our impact on forests and natural resources!
NAME ADDRESS
SIGNATURE
RESOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY
PAPERS
http://www.eurekarecycled.com/
http://www.gregbarberco.com/
paper and printing
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure/products.htm#paper
look under paper and paper products, then printing and writing papers
http://www.newleafpaper.com/products.html
list of environmental printers
http://www.visionpaper.com/
http://www.livingtreepaper.com/
A great resource book that was distributed to the entire
university press community. It has
lists of alternative papers available for specific press requirements, paper
examples, and a detailed description of different alternative fibers available
http://www.rca-info.org/products/paper.html
a comprehensive list of papers, manufacturers and suppliers
http://www.newleafpaper.com/terminology.html
this site contains a list of important paper terminology, as well as links
to the company’s products and services
ORGANIZATIONS
http://www.conservatree.com/
http://www.publishers.org/
the publishing association that all UP’s are a member of
book manufacturer that many of the UP’s use
http://www.malloy.com/siteindx.htm
a printer that offers alternative papers for printing projects
http://www.glatfelter.com/
paper supplier that many UP’s buy their paper from
FOREST CERTIFICATION INFORMATION
http://www.afandpa.org/
American Forest and Products Association; the overarching organization whose membership includes many from the forest, paper and wood products industry
http://sfp.cas.psu.edu/publications.htm#publications
Sustainable Forestry Partnership offers publications on different certification
systems and case studies of sustainable businesses
http://sfp.cas.psu.edu/resources.htm
offers links and resources for more information on forest certification
http://www.certifiedwood.org/search-modules/SupplierSearch.ASP
a comprehensive list of certified wood products suppliers.
Searchable by product or by company name
http://www.fscus.org/
Forest Stewardship Council web site A major forest certification entity
