Tree Free Paper
Greentips: November 2002
From its invention in China in 105 A.D. until very recently, paper was made from plant fibers, like hemp and cotton, or from textile waste. That changed when the wood pulping process was invented in the 19th century, not because wood produced a superior product, but because it solved the problem of scarce raw materials. At the time, most paper in the Western world was made from rags, but supplies were hard to come by. Trees, on the other hand, were plentiful—particularly in North America with its vast forests. It seemed like the perfect solution.
Today, we know different. Many of the world's biologically-rich forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Each year an area of tropical forest the size of New York state is lost. A major cause is the expansion of industrial tree plantations, which supply pulp to meet worldwide demand for paper products.
Tree-free production technology is better than ever. In developing countries, a third of the paper produced is already tree-free, according to U.N. estimates, and there is now a budding, if small, tree-free paper industry emerging in the West. The materials used are:
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CROPS, including kenaf, an African plant which makes an excellent paper pulp; hemp, a versatile plant and a component in the first papers ever made; flax, the plant used to make linen; and cotton.
- AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES, or crop leftovers, such as rice and wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, banana stalk fiber and grass clippings.
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COTTON RAGS, as in the days just before wood became the raw material of choice.
The benefits of using non-wood sources extend beyond saving trees and forest habitat. The production process is itself more environmentally sound, requiring fewer chemicals and less energy.
That said, even tree-free papers are often bleached with chlorine or chlorine derivatives. The byproduct dioxin is then released into waterways, poisoning fish and the animals (including humans) that consume them. For this reason, it is important when buying paper not only to look for tree-free products, but chlorine-free ones as well. There are two designations for chlorine-free papers:
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TCF, or totally chlorine free, meaning paper that is made without chlorine or chlorine derivatives. This applies to virgin paper.
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PCF, or processed chlorine free, which means much the same as TCF, except that it applies to recycled paper.
Many tree-free papers are actually blends of non-wood fibers and post-consumer waste (recycled) paper. This is a good thing. Using recycled paper to create new paper saves both water and energy, and helps keep pollution down. So, next time you shop, seek out the tree-free blends marked PCF—they're the best paper products you can buy. Don't forget to encourage your office supply store to carry these papers if they don't yet. Let the publishers of the magazines you subscribe to know you care, too. That's how to be a real engine of change.
