Tree-Free Paper Products
If recycled or handmade recycled paper isn't your thing, there are many more options. Did you know paper can be made out of many materials without harming one single tree? Before the nineteenth century, many types of plants and fibers other than trees were used to make paper. When industrial wood pulping technology was developed, forest resources were taken advantage of in the United States and the lumber business grew quickly. Today the lush forests are long gone, and even though many trees are planted specifically for the paper industry, they cannot grow fast enough to meet demand.
One out of every three trees that is harvested ends up as pulp for paper products. Even with all the alternative paper resources out there, forests are being consumed at rapid rates. The U.S. paper industry alone consumes more than 12,430 square miles of forest per year.
Loss of trees is not the paper industry's only ecological problem. While the impact on the world's forests is undeniable, the industry consumes vast amounts of energy and water to convert trees into paper. In addition, many chemicals that are used in the process end up in our air, water, and soil in large amounts, causing serious pollution.
When you mail out all those invitations, try to find old-fashioned moisten-and-stick stamps. New sticker-type stamps come on waxy paper that cannot be recycled. You can also ask for the invitations to be metered and stamped by a machine or by hand; just make sure the postage isn't being stamped onto peel-and-stick labels.
Tree-free paper is one eco-friendly alternative. The fibers from most plants can be made into quality paper products. Rapidly renewable resources such as flax and hemp can create quality paper. Experts believe the most effective and environmentally friendly resources for tree-free paper can come from otherwise discarded agricultural waste. Stalks and husks left after harvesting a main crop are perfect; corn, barley, oats, wheat, rice, rye, coffee bean skins, sugar cane husks, and even tobacco fiber can be made into paper. This method makes use of existing waste and turns it into something beneficial while saving natural virgin resources such as hardwood trees.
Some of the most popular alternative materials being used for paper-making today include the following:
Bamboo is being used for everything from flooring to clothing and even paper. Bamboo paper and rice paper have been made on a small scale in Asia for centuries.
Bagasse is the husk and pulp that remains after extracting juice from sugar cane; it can be processed into paper.
Waste bark from banana trees can be made into paper. Banana leaf paper is known as abaca.
Coconut husks can be processed into thick, textured paper.
Corn plant stalks, known as corn stover, can be made into excellent paper pulp comparable to North American hardwood pulp.
Cotton paper can be made from old cotton rags and other recycled cotton material, cotton processing waste, or even fresh organic cotton fibers.
Paper can be made from bacteria- and odor-free elephant dung.
Hemp paper is a superior quality product. It is said that Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.
Jute can be made into high-quality specialty paper.
Kenaf is a hibiscus from Africa that has been used to make paper.
Mango paper is made from the mango leaf and paper mulberry.
Straw fibers are very similar to wood and make great paper. At one time, the United States produced straw paper, but the industry no longer exists.
The petals and leaves from the tamarind tree can be made into paper.
Hemp is considered to be the best alternative to regular wood pulp paper. It is said that the world's first paper was made from hemp, and until 1883, 75 to 90 percent of the world's paper was hemp. The Gutenberg Bible, Thomas Paine's pamphlets, and Mark Twain's novels were all printed on hemp paper. Hemp paper is stronger than wood-based paper and will last centuries longer than regular paper. It does not crack, yellow, or deteriorate. Hemp paper does not require any bleaching and can be grown and processed with very little chemical use.
One acre of hemp can produce as much paper as four to ten acres of trees growing over a twenty-year cycle. While the trees have to grow for twenty to eighty years before they are mature enough to be harvested and turned into pulp, hemp can reach maturity in only four months.
Tree-free paper is not entirely a mainstream product yet, so it may be hard to come by at your local office supply store or printer. However, as with everything else, demand pushes supply up. As more people start asking for tree-free paper, mainstream stores will start supplying it to the general public. Until then, you can search in your local health food and natural supply specialty stores and online.
