“Be More Tree”

Be More Tree – Written by Ian Bates, Partnership Director of Two Sides, for the Cousin Fineprint magazine

Take care of the earth and she will take care of you. How we act begins with how we think, and both will shape the future human landscape.

Peer through the corporate greenwash, past the brand humblebragging and two clear facts appear. One – We are consuming too much of our planet’s resources. Two – We are creating too much carbon dioxide. We need to consume fewer resources by recycling more, and find a way to reduce the C02 levels. So far so obvious, but delivering the how is an extraordinarily complex challenge.

Thankfully our planet is a genius, it can take the complex and make it simple. It has developed a tried, tested, easy to deploy, low cost technology that eats C02 and returns oxygen. In the process it protects critical biodiversity, prevents soil erosion and provides valuable resources. And these resources are not only recyclable, but one of them already has the highest recycling rate of any material. It can be used over and over and over and over and over and over again (up to 25 times), and then as fuel for biomass energy.

All good. All trees. And all good to go. In fact this is well underway. Between 2005 and 2020, European forests grew by around 60,000 km². That’s an area greater in size than Switzerland and amounts to nearly 1,500 football pitches of forest growth every day. These sustainable forests provide 90% of the virgin wood fibre to the European paper industry.

But what about the paper industry? Paper mills operate within some of the most stringent environmental standards in the world, and have invested heavily to reduce their water and energy needs. As a result European paper mills produce 54.6% of their electricity on-site, of which more than 95% is generated through highly efficient CHP (Combined Heat & Power) plants. The paper industry is actually the biggest user of renewable bioenergy in Europe. On average 61% is generated from biomass, 33% from gas and the balance from coal and other fossil fuels.

Of course water is used in paper production but around 90% can be returned to the environment. In Europe paper has the highest recycling rate of any material at 71%, and paper-based packaging is at 82%. 71% is impressive, but even more impressive when you consider how much paper is kept (ie books and archival records) or can’t be recycled (toilet and sanitary products).

So one thing we can all do, right now, is put some thought to practical and immediate ways to reduce our consumption of the planet’s resources. Favour recyclable products, with extreme prejudice. And lean towards those industries whose product is part of the solution, not the problem. Trees do make paper, but paper also makes trees.