To set the record straight about what's the real deal between the print industry and the environment, how printing affects the ecological system, as well as the environmental impacts of every print we made. Here are the revealing facts that we should know before you skeptically accuse the value of printing.
Many companies, not only the manufacturers in the Print Industry, are relying on printing technology. Indeed, there are negative impacts that had brought the environment to a not so well state due to improper printing practices, but it shouldn't always be the one to blame.
Let's start with one of it's commonly consumed material, which is paper. People have this common notion that using paper materials kill trees, I give it a check, but trees are renewable, thus it can be replaced. For a fact, in the United States alone, they managed to increase their trees population by up to 20% in comparison to the 1st Earth Day celebration way back 40 years ago (AF&PA). Private land owners in U.S. are planting trees everyday, 4 times the number of trees they harvest daily, and still continue to keep their land for forestry. The bottom line here is that, if you keep on wasting or using paper products, then might as well double or triple your effort on giving back what you got, plant trees more than what you consumed.
E-Books are very common nowadays which perhaps affects the industry of book publishing. Books are produced from paper materials and printing process, and if you think you're helping the environment by becoming an E-Reader, here's what you need to know. Paper productions require about 50-60% of energy which comes from renewable resources, take note of the word "renewable". Now with those E-Books, how are you supposed to access and read those? Through tablets, smartphones, mobile devices, etc., whatever you call it, still they all generally address as electronic wastes. Another question, how are you supposed to use an e-book reader unless it has a charge right? Do you think the power or energy that your devices consumed can be renewed, even so, the health effects and environmental effects of using such devices are more adverse than reading a book.
Electronic waste or what you call high-end devices, are made of plastics, metals, and a combination of minerals that are non-renewable, and can only be acquired through mining. Furthermore, most of these devices have only 60-80% of their components which can be recycled, the rest are dismantled, disposed and end up as land fillers. Whereas the supplies and consumables of a printer has a better rate of recyclability. Printer cartridges for example can be recycled for more than 4-5 times or more, these are called recycled toner cartridges and ink cartridges. They produce less carbon footprint compared to several electronic devices that unsafely and uncontrollably emitting carbon footprints which definitely harm the environment.
Many companies, not only the manufacturers in the Print Industry, are relying on printing technology. Indeed, there are negative impacts that had brought the environment to a not so well state due to improper printing practices, but it shouldn't always be the one to blame.
Let's start with one of it's commonly consumed material, which is paper. People have this common notion that using paper materials kill trees, I give it a check, but trees are renewable, thus it can be replaced. For a fact, in the United States alone, they managed to increase their trees population by up to 20% in comparison to the 1st Earth Day celebration way back 40 years ago (AF&PA). Private land owners in U.S. are planting trees everyday, 4 times the number of trees they harvest daily, and still continue to keep their land for forestry. The bottom line here is that, if you keep on wasting or using paper products, then might as well double or triple your effort on giving back what you got, plant trees more than what you consumed.
E-Books are very common nowadays which perhaps affects the industry of book publishing. Books are produced from paper materials and printing process, and if you think you're helping the environment by becoming an E-Reader, here's what you need to know. Paper productions require about 50-60% of energy which comes from renewable resources, take note of the word "renewable". Now with those E-Books, how are you supposed to access and read those? Through tablets, smartphones, mobile devices, etc., whatever you call it, still they all generally address as electronic wastes. Another question, how are you supposed to use an e-book reader unless it has a charge right? Do you think the power or energy that your devices consumed can be renewed, even so, the health effects and environmental effects of using such devices are more adverse than reading a book.
Electronic waste or what you call high-end devices, are made of plastics, metals, and a combination of minerals that are non-renewable, and can only be acquired through mining. Furthermore, most of these devices have only 60-80% of their components which can be recycled, the rest are dismantled, disposed and end up as land fillers. Whereas the supplies and consumables of a printer has a better rate of recyclability. Printer cartridges for example can be recycled for more than 4-5 times or more, these are called recycled toner cartridges and ink cartridges. They produce less carbon footprint compared to several electronic devices that unsafely and uncontrollably emitting carbon footprints which definitely harm the environment.