The Good, Bad and Ugly Paper Products Part 2

July 2, 2010 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

I wanted to expand a bit more on what makes most paper products like napkins, toilet paper, paper towels and facial tissue not just bad, but downright ugly.  One of the bad things is the amount of energy and water used to make virgin paper products.  Here’s a quote I came across from the University of Colorado’s Environmental Center which states:

  • One ton of recycled paper saves 3,700 pounds of lumber and 24,000 gallons of water.
  • One ton of recycled paper uses: 64% less energy, 50% less water, 74% less air pollution, saves 17 trees and creates 5 times more jobs than one ton of paper products from virgin wood pulp.
  • Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees (35’ tall), 2 barrels of oil (enough fuel to run the average car for 1260 miles or from Dallas to Los Angeles), 4100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space (one family size pick-up truck) and 60 pounds of air pollution. (Trash to Cash, 1996)
  • It takes one 15-year old tree to produce half a box of paper. Use both sides of all paper. (Midpoint International)
  • Recycled paper saves 60% energy vs. virgin paper (Center for Ecological Technology

Wow!  That sort of puts things into perspective.  You are literally flushing trees and energy down your toilet along with water.  Not to mention the pollution going up in the air.  It is one thing to raise trees to cut down to build homes and make durable goods, but the make disposable goods out of trees really is downright ugly.  Plus there are good economic reasons to buy recycled, more jobs that are truly sustainable.

The other ugly part of most virgin paper is the bleaching process that is used. The chlorine bleaching process creates waste-water that contains hazardous organic compounds, one particularly nasty one is dioxin.  Dioxin has been associated with cancer, liver damage, endocrine disrupting, birth defects and a long list of bad things in studies.  You can read more about dioxin at this link Dioxin facts from the CDC.  There are other ways to bleach paper that don’t pose the health risks associated with chlorine bleaching; oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and ozone.  I hope this helped to explain more about the negative effects of non-recycled paper products.  I actually look for recycled paper in everything; greeting cards, stationary, calendars, copier paper, school notebooks, and folders.  The next time you are in need of any sort of paper product see if you can find it recycled.

University of Colorado Recycling Facts

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A Time to Not Water

April 14, 2010 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Some of my great fans on my Facebook Green Girl Inc. fan page noted that they didn’t water their lawn at all.  That is the ideal scenario, especially if you live in a dry or drought-prone region.  Over the last few years dry and drought-prone describes  much of the U.S..  How do you have a nice yard and not waste such a valuable resource.  Here are a list of suggestions to lower water consumption, bills and maintenance.

1) Reduce the amount of lawn or turf grass that you have to the smallest patch you can.

2) Plant native species in flower beds. Native species don’t need coddling that introduced species do.

3) If you don’t have heavy foot traffic or kids playing in your yard consider a ground cover (like creeping phlox or clover) that once established needs no water or mowing.  Get your weekends back!

4) Plant hardy, slow-growing grass such at a no-mow fescue lawn or fescue blend.  Buffalo grass is another option.

5) Install a rain garden to catch runoff

6) Xeriscape, especially in a dessert region. Xeriscape would include native drought resistant plants (like succulents and cacti) and rocks.

7) Simply don’t be pressured to follow the herd, and have the typical Kentucky bluegrass manicured lawn.

By doing some, or all, of these suggestions you can not only lower your water demand, but you can forgo the nasty lawn chemicals that typically come with a great expanse of manicured lawn.  You will create a unique and healthy environment for your family and wildlife.  And one other huge plus, you won’t have to devote your weekends to keeping up your yard by mowing, fertilizing, and applying chemicals.  I have links to resources for some of these lawn alternatives.

Nichols Garden Nursery

Prairie Nursery

UMN-Extension

Less Lawn

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A Time to Water

April 13, 2010 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

There are good times of day to water and bad times of day to water.  If you have to use water on your lawn and garden, then the early morning is the best time to do that.  If you have a timer on your watering system, setting it to turn on as early as possible is the best.  If you have a member of your family getting up to shower at 6 AM, then you should make sure the watering is done by then, even if that means setting the timer to 4 AM.  The worst time of day to water is from noon through the rest of the afternoon.  This is the hottest time of day and you will lose water to evaporation, more than any other time of day.  By watering in the heat of the day you are wasting water and money.  Do yourself and your lawn a favor, and water early and infrequently.

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