The Power of Print

By Rudy DaCorte

“Think of the environment before you print this e-mail” … How many of you have received this tag line at the end of an E-mail? How many of you use it at the end of your E-mail? After seeing this line a few times, naturally, I started to think of the environment and the printed word.

Since the beginning of the digital age, print on paper is viewed as having a negative environmental impact. When you get right down to it, if you really thought about the environment, none of us would be sending E-mails and the digital age would come to an immediate and sudden end.

As I started to think about the environment I began to think about all the material required to manufacture the computers used to send and receive E-mails. I started to think of the copper, lead, numerous other metals and petroleum products found in each computer. Then I started to consider the industries needed to source and refine these metals and the pollution they create. Then I began to think about what happens when a computer reaches the end of its useful life.

I recently visited my local computer store with my trusty old lap-top in need of a new CMOS battery and some diagnostics. The service consultant took one look at it and wouldn’t touch it. “It’s over 10 years old! Windows ME is not supported any more. You do know that computer technology changes every 4 to 6 months!?” Yes, I was aware, however, for my purpose, the old lap-top fit my need. The only option offered was to trash it and buy a new one.

So I looked into what happens to old computers to find out how much is actually recycled and how much goes into the local landfill to slowly leach toxic elements into the soil for generations. Environment Canada estimates that 1.1 tonnes of mercury, 4.4 tonnes of cadmium and 4,750 tonnes of lead are disposed of in computer waste across Canada each year.

Then I started to think about the power consumption required by my computer. I thought about all the computers on my street, multiplied that by all the streets in my neighbourhood, my city and province. Then add to that the power consumption of server farms needed to support the internet. It is estimated by 2020 that American based servers and data centres are projected to be the largest single users of electricity. We see evidence of what that leads to - power plants in our communities spewing forth pollutants on a daily basis, taxing our already overburdened air-shed.

If we really want to think about the environment, we need to take these issues into consideration before we start thinking about the impact of the printed word on our environment. One of the reasons we may think print on paper is wasteful is apparent on recycling day. When we look at our blue bins we see that most of the items in the bins are paper based. It does looks like a lot of waste. But when you compare it to computers and other digital gadgets, all of the material in our blue bins is 100% recyclable. Of the paper used to print newspapers, magazines, marketing pieces, direct mail pieces and packaging, 57% is recycled for re-use. Consider that only 36% of all metal, 22% of glass, 18% of electronic products and 7% of plastic is recovered; printing on paper actually means you are thinking about the environment!

Next, consider the trees cut down to make paper. Well, what if I told you that not printing does not save trees! Deforestation is real, however, the leading cause of clear cutting is agriculture; croplands to grow soybeans, corn and cattle ranching. Of the over 402 million hectares of forests in Canada, less than 1.01 million hectares are harvested each year. Annually, the forest industry plants 600 million seedlings to supplement natural regeneration. In Canada, total forest cover has basically remained the same from 1990 to 2005. When you think about forests as a renewable resource then you begin to see the pulp and paper industry as a more environmentally sustainable one compared to that needed to produce computer components.

This now leads us to the manufacturing process for the paper we use for print. The pulp and paper industry continues to make changes to their manufacturing process in pursuit of significant reductions to their environmental footprint. Since 1995, sulphur and nitrogen dioxide emissions have been reduced by 40%; suspended solids in water discharge down by 50% and solid waste decreased by 20%. Many paper mills are located far from energy sources requiring manufacturers to develop alternative energy sources from bio-mass, bio-gas and wind power. These initiatives have helped reduce their carbon footprint.

From now on, when you think of print on paper, I want you to imagine an industry firmly based on renewable resources while striving towards lower carbon emissions. There is no turning back on the digital age; however, you can be confident in the knowledge that print on paper is an environmentally friendly and sustainable medium that works well in this new digital age. The next time you print that E-mail that asks you to consider the environment – know that you are.

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