My first post about this subject brought up some lively debate. One of the critiques of my last post was that in comparing print and paper to computers and electronics, people do not purchase computers to receive advertisements. Very true. But I think it misses a huge point, and that is that people DO buy computers to communicate and to disseminate and store information, and some of that information is in the form of advertisements. The discussion of how green print is versus electronics is not just related to advertising, it applies to ALL forms.

As I was working on a follow-up, I received perhaps the best educational piece I have yet seen on the subject. NewPage, one of our mill partners, periodically puts out a new piece in their educational series they call “Ed.” Their 13^th edition is titled “Balance” and it is all about communication and sustainability. The pages about the lifecycle of both the computer and paper are what really caught my attention. The lifecycles of both start at the cradle (with the obtaining of the raw materials), and ends at the “grave” (end of life of the product). Some key distinguishing factors:

Manufacturing:

• After the raw materials are gathered for a computer (materials which include zinc, iron, and nickel), it takes as much chemicals, water and fossil fuels to make one desktop computer as it does to manufacture a mid-size car. (The amount of fossil fuels used to make that same computer is roughly 10 times the weight of the computer itself.)
• In contrast, paper’s main component (wood from trees) is a readily-renewable resource.  More than half of the papermaking sector’s energy needs are met with renewable biomass fuels. And, 99% of the chemicals used in the pulping process are recovered and burned in the mills’ boilers to create steam energy.

Transportation to consumer:

• Most computers used in the United States today come from manufacturers overseas. In order to get them here, computers are shipped via transport ship or air freight, the two modes of transportation leaving the greatest carbon footprint. And then it is put on trains or trucks to get to its final destination, adding further to the footprint.
• If your paper is manufactured domestically (here in the U.S.), rail or truck are the shipment options and the carbon footprint in minimized, with rail being one of the (if not THE) most efficient forms of transportation.

Grave (or “back to cradle”)

• 18% of the three million tons of electronic waste in the U.S. is recycled each year, and of that waste, only about 14% of the components can be recycled into usable materials.  The other components (like lead and mercury) must be specially handled.
• 57% of the paper produced is recycled, and recycled paper can be collected and returned to be remanufactured up to five times.

Some other interesting factoids in this piece:

• 70% of toxic waste in the U.S. landfills comes from e-waste.
• Burning a CD produces four times as much CO² as printing a single annual report.
• Four million trees are planted EVERY DAY in the U.S.
• 62 trillion spam emails are sent every year, contributing greenhouse gases equivalent to two billion gallons of gasoline.

The piece is excellent and a real eye opener.  I would highly recommend reading it.  If you would like a copy, I would be more than happy to send you one. (Or, you may order your own copy at http://www.edliveshere.com/)