Saving is a good habit, lets start with PAPER.

Hello, this is a short composition about the ‘PAPER’. Made of wood simply formed out of a tree cut in some corner of the world. What is the first thought come to your mind when you hold a piece of paper in your hand? A very fresh, bright white piece of paper and nothing more. Next thing you get tempt either to write on it or to sketch on it for no reason sometimes and then throw it in a bin. Most of the people know that paper is made out of trees and we should save trees to protect the environment. But have you ever thought of the extent the woods are cut to form a virgin paper? And what quantity of paper an average person consumes per year or so? Some may think of only printing papers when one say ‘Paper’, but there are number of applications of the paper which can be taken into focus and thousands and millions of trees can be unshackled. You would be surprised (like I got) to know some far-fetched but true facts about paper.

Some statistics on paper consumption:
- The average per capita paper use worldwide is 110 pounds (50 kg).
- It is estimated that 95% of business information is still stored on paper. [Source: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Discussion Paper (IIED, London, September 1996)]
- Recycling 1 short ton (0.91 t) of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7 thousand US gallons (26 m3) of water, 3 cubic yards (2.3 m3) of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil (84 US gal or 320 l), and 4,100 kilowatt-hours (15 GJ) of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for six months.
- Although paper is traditionally identified with reading and writing, communications has now been replaced by packaging as the single largest category of paper use at 41% of all paper used.
- 115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computers. The average web user prints 28 pages daily. (Unbelievable - but true)
- Most corrugated fiberboard boxes have over 25% recycled fibers. Some are 100% recycled fiber.

Little acts of prudence, which can make a big difference in paper saving are as follows. (Applies to all level of people)
1. Less use / Don’t use Post It paper tags. Use misprint or waste papers instead.
2. Use old diaries or notebooks, which are already formed into paper out of wood, reducing purchase of fresh paper and thus less wood chopping. Buy only recycled notebooks.
3. Make maximum usage of e-tools / Mobile etc. for information transfer and communication. Avoid paper usage as far as possible. This is quite possible and have maximum impact on paper saving. An estimated 940 million people worldwide have access to the Internet, which is almost a sixth of the world’s population.
4. Apply 3R Concept – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. All you have to do is to just think for a while about 3R before using any kind of paper. I mean any kind.
5. Replace paper napkins with cloth napkins, and paper plates with regular dishes.
6. Sign up for e-statement wherever possible and avoid printed bills. Pay online wherever possible.
7. Sign up for online publications of your magazines instead of printed copy.
8. Prevent undue usage of the packaging and reuse packing material wherever possible.
9. Think before you print. Try printing double-sided and also try to print multiple pages on one to save even more paper.
10. Use scanner in office as far as possible, instead of taking print-outs.
11. Do not allow unneccessary papers to stack near you, clear them soon and send it to the proper recycling channel.