Jane Molony, Executive Director at Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) said in the quest for a higher state of environmental consciousness, there is an increase in misinformation around paper and its impact on earth.
The Misinformation Problem About Trees
The misinformation seems to ignore how sustainably grown trees act as carbon sinks (thanks to photosynthesis), or that farmed wood is a renewable resource. Instead, the myths about the forestry and paper sector have grown ignorant tendrils across the internet, into literature, school curricula and textbooks, and have taken root deep within our minds.
Debunking Myths
“We have been taught to protect trees. We have been made to believe that the production of timber and paper causes deforestation, and that using digital forms of communication, advertising and reading will save our planet.
Climate Change and Digital Footprint
“Climate scientists have recently indicated that this year could become the hottest year on record as the warming El Niño effect continues. While there are a number of human-influenced impacts at play, we rarely consider the impact of our digital footprint on the planet,” Molony explains.
The Environmental Cost of Digital
Statistics from International Energy Association that the world’s data transmission networks and centres are responsible for nearly 1% of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions annually and accounted for approximately 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020.
A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also found that cloud computing and data services now have a greater carbon footprint than the entire airline industry and a single data centre can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes.
The Irony of Digital Greenwashing
The digital world is very much part of how humans live and thrive, and are doing their economy and society a disservice to see the forest and paper industry as an environmental villain.
‘Greenwashing’ is when an organisation or sector spends more time and money on marketing itself as being environmentally conscious than it does on minimising its environmental impact. Unfortunately, paper has been an easy target of this kind of misdirection.
Case Studies in Greenwashing
A number of banks in South Africa are guilty of greenwashing and were taken to task. One particularly green bank has pushed its paperless transition by urging consumers to join a ‘movement towards a cleaner, greener, paperless world’. Another bank had a message on its blue ATM screens: “If everyone said no to a receipt just for one month, we would save 45 trees.”
Understanding Paper Production
It’s necessary to unpack why businesses and consumers think paper is bad before we can change perceptions.
The production of timber, pulp and paper does not cause deforestation. In South Africa, like wheat or maize, trees are farmed – except with longer rotations. There are always trees of different stages of maturity growing, and forestry companies use the same land over and over again, with thousands of hectares audited, certified and sustainably managed.
Deforestation vs. Sustainable Forestry
Deforestation is the in discriminant removal of trees without replanting, and a change in land use, such as cattle farming, urban development or human settlements.
That said, deforestation is a very real concern in developing countries and some African countries, where illegal logging of tropical forests is happening at an alarming rate. It’s why forest certification is so important, and where consumers can wield their power by only purchasing paper packaging, books or other wood-based goods which clearly indicate that the wood or paper is sourced from sustainable sources.
Water Stewardship and Conservation
A third of forestry-owned land is not planted with commercial trees but managed for the conservation of the natural habitats and the biodiversity they contain. This in turn balances the ecosystem and ensures healthy, productive plantations.
All life on earth requires water. Much like us, plantations will take up the water they need and transpire the excess. If a eucalyptus or pine tree is planted near a water course, it will take up more water. The amount of water they need and use depends on an array of factors from abiotic (soil, climate) to biotic such as the size, age and health of the plant.
This is why water stewardship is exercised, ensuring that trees are never planted beyond the buffer zones between plantations and riverine areas. There are on-going programmes to ensure that such species, along with other alien invasive species, are removed from environmentally sensitive areas.
The Enduring Value of Paper
While digital media has undoubtedly increased our access to information, delivered convenience and opened up new economies, the idea that it will render print and paper obsolete is, well, ridiculous.
Tim Harford writes in ‘Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy’: “Old technologies have a habit of enduring. We still use pencils and candles. The world still produces more bicycles than cars.”
Many people forget that paper is more than the stuff we stick into our laser jets and copiers. The same stuff that makes pristine A4 sheets makes cardboard boxes, gift bags, toilet paper, facial tissue, magazine paper, book paper, labels, and countless cellulose-based products such as sponges, textiles and cellulose acetate (or cellophane). They all startedas wood fibre. These everyday products are all renewable, many of them recyclable.
Commitment to Sustainability
Forest, pulp, and paper companies are among the most passionate adherents of sustainability. Not only is the sector committed to being environmentally conscious and resource efficient, but also invests incredible amounts of time and resources to make sure most is made of our trees, supporting not only society, but a future that is founded on a circular economy. PAMSA