Read'n'Seed 4: Third quarter of "Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World

For this quarter of the book I read 8 chapters which covered pages 54-108. The main topics of these chapters are source reduction and wood reduction. Source reduction is the change in the design of materials and wood reduction is reducing the amount of wood-based packaging.

Source Reduction is one of the most effective strategies for businesses to reduce solid waste right away. Packages can be eliminated and products can be redesigned for source reduction. Goals of source reduction are to reduce volume of packaging in the waste stream, reduce amount of packaging used, reduce package weight to save transportation energy, and to support suppliers who recycle waste. Aluminum cans were trimmed down from 21 to 12 grams between 1970 and 1998. The company that makes Clif Bar stopped shrink wrapping the bulk product boxes and saved $445,000 a year by eliminating $90,000 pounds of plastic.

Forests are the primary source of packaging materials. Wood-based products are the largest part of the municipal waste stream. This means that forests are under assault from industrial operations that fill wood supplies. We humans tend to forget that intact forests are home to and support the highest levels of biodiversity. "Only 20% remains of the world's original ancient forests large enough to maintain their inherent biodiversity".

We are a society addicted to wood and it's a problem that is ignored. There are only a few public policies that call for an environmentally preferable packaging. The book lists the different types of wood based packaging:

• Paper:Paper consumption more than tripled between 1961 and 1998. More than 600 lbs of paperboard are consumed each year per person in the U.S.
• Corrugated box materials:Can be recycled just about anywhere, however, boxes dirty with grease, like pizza boxes, usually can't be recycled.
• Boxboard:Often used as a secondary packaging for items.
• Solid-wood packaging materials:Building these pallets consume 40% of all hardwoods and 10% of all lumber cut in the U.S. each year.
• Wood Shavings:Used as a filler in shipping containers.

The problem is how much wood packaging is used and that there are no ordinances against it. A product ordered and shipped from the internet comes in a corrugated box, which contains "filler" made of paper, to cushion the item. Then the actual product may come in it's own packaging; maybe a box filled with more paper. Wood based packaging seems to be on the backburner of environmental issues.

The author lists some solutions to the problem. I will name just three of his ideas.

1. Source Avoidance: Companies pledge to avoid using wood-based products that are sourced from remaining biologically intact forests.
2. Source Protection: Nations can direct tax dollars and incentives toward long-term conservation of remaining forests.
3. Perception adjustment:We must challenge the notion that wood is preferable to plastic because it is a renewable source. All packaging production carries impacts. Our challenge is to make the best resource decisions possible for the long term.

I think the biggest challenge is to convince people that just because wood is a renewable source, it doesn't mean that the environment isn't suffering. The environmental impact of paper is just as important as the impact of plastic.