ThinkGREEN

Cover

ThinkGREEN

Research Day 2002

Mental Hygiene Changes Name

Gun Policy Center Update

Mercury and Heart Attacks

At the School

Awards & Honors

Subscribe

JHSPH Home

Newsletter Archives

Give Us Your Feedback

Published by the Office of Communications

ThinkGREEN

Saving Paper, Saving Trees

The School uses more than 14 million sheets of paper annually. That’s 70 tons.

Nearly 1,700 trees are cut each year to provide us with copy and office paper. This year, about 600 of those trees can remain standing and continue to provide valuable forest habitat, thanks to the efforts of Scott McVicker in Support Services and Crista Crago-Spangler, director of Support Services and chair of the School’s Environmental Stewardship Committee.

As of January 1, 2003, all the paper purchased through the School’s Copy Consolidation Program is made from 35 percent post-consumer recycled content. That comprises about 80 percent of the paper purchased by the School. In addition to saving 600 trees, the new paper will save almost 411 million BTUs of energy, 51,000 pounds of climate-change-causing CO2, 250,000 gallons of water, and 26,500 pounds of solid waste from entering the landfill.

Given these benefits, are you still concerned about the quality of the new, recycled paper? Mr. McVicker and Ms. Crago-Spangler conducted “double-blind” studies comparing the new paper to the old and found the recycled paper to be indistinguishable from "virgin" stock. The new paper performed very well in copiers and printers while having the exact look and feel of the old paper, at the same cost.

In addition to buying recycled paper, the School is doing its part by conducting an impressive recycling program. But are you doing your part?

The first key to taking care of our environment is to reduce the amount of resources we use. Given that the students, staff, and faculty are using 14 million sheets of paper annually, here are some ways we can all chip in to reduce our paper use:

Think twice before hitting that “print” button! Do you really need a hard copy or can you read it online and save it electronically if you need it later?
When printing, try to reduce font sizes to fit more information on a page. Also consider pasting several shorter documents into one single document to save paper.
Many copiers will do double-sided copying, and often you can shrink two pages into one. Not only does this save paper, it saves you money!

SCHOOL JOINS “MEATLESS MONDAY” HEALTH CAMPAIGN

In October, the School agreed to work with “The Meatless Monday Campaign” in a nationwide effort to reduce the consumption of saturated fat and calories in the American diet. The campaign calls for eliminating meat from meals one day per week to encourage people to explore healthy dietary alternatives and increase awareness of the toll meat consumption takes on our health and the environment.
     Later this year, the Meatless Monday Campaign will offer recipe ideas, nutritional information, expert advice, and other useful information using its website, cookbooks, and the national and local media to reach Americans all across the country.
    “Meat consumption in America is higher than in any other country in the world and clearly contributes to heart disease, stroke, and cancer-the three leading causes of death in the nation-along with the risk factors of smoking, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and lack of exercise,” said Robert Lawrence, MD, associate dean and director of the School’s Center for a Livable Future.
     “Meats, as well as dairy products such as whole milk and cheese, are the
primary sources of saturated fat in our diet. The good news is that many people have already been making positive changes in their diets over the past decade,” he added.
     Twenty-nine other schools of public health have agreed to support the campaign.

The second key to caring for our environment is to reuse resources. The blank side of a page can be used for scrap paper, taking notes, or writing rough drafts.

As a last resort, recycling our resources helps to keep our environment healthy. Lee Franks, manager of Custodial Services, reports that the School produced a total of 422 tons of solid waste in 2002, of which only 6.3 percent was recycled. What can you do to increase the amount of paper recycled?

Make sure every scrap of paper-all colors, types, envelopes, magazines, books, and cardboard-you dispose of is placed in a recycling bin.
Additional recycling bins can be requested from Housekeeping, to place near copiers and printers to make recycling easier.
Avoid contaminating the recycling bin with anything that can’t be recycled, such as food. The clean-up staff is forbidden to sort through the recyclables to remove trash. A contaminated recycling bin must be put into the trash.
Bulk recycling bins for more adventurous clean-ups can be requested from Housekeeping to get rid of those old files, journals, and class notes from decades past.
Purchase recycled paper. Recycling only works if there’s a market for recycled products.

Mr. Franks estimates that just by keeping the recycling bins free of contamination we could recycle another 25 percent, and by raising awareness about all the different kinds of paper that are recyclable we could recycle another 25 percent of our paper.

If you have suggestions about how to reduce, reuse, or recycle more paper, please send them to ciparker@jhsph.edu.