Going Green

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ECO-FRIENDLY ECONOMICAL EDUCATIONAL E3-TEXT

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How Much Paper Can Be Made from a Tree? It’s almost impossible to know exactly how much paper can be made from one tree. But let's assume that the following paper products have been produced using 100 percent hardwood. A cord of wood is approximately 8 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet high. A cord of air-dried, dense hardwood (oak, hickory, etc.) weighs roughly 2 tons, about 15-20 percent of which is water.

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It has been estimated that one cord of this wood will yield one of these approximate quantities of products: 1,000-2,000 pounds of paper (depending on the process) 942 100-page, hard-cover books 61,370 No. 10 business envelopes 4,384,000 commemorative-sized postage stamps 460,000 personal checks 1,200 copies of National Geographic 2,700 copies of an average daily newspaper Source: A Tree for Each American, American Forest & Paper Association, Washington, DC

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If one student buys 12 textbooks, that's one tree. The average American college student will buy 17 textbooks in one year. =

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With a total 17.6 million students headed to college, that adds up to about 25 million trees turned into books that half of them probably won't read.

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These numbers don't take into account the amount of recycled paper that goes into many textbooks, and whether students are buying used books. Still, CafeScribe cites the studies that its numbers come from, and the environmental impact can be chilling.

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Textbooks and other printed products for the educational sector represent approximately 20% of the entire book publishing marketing, consuming 200,000 tons of paper annual - equivalent to four million trees Effort in textbook sector is part of a larger effort of the book industry as a whole 77% global growth in pulp, paper, publishing (1995-2020) and over 90% of paper is virgin fiber. Paper production and consumption is impacting rare and Endangered Forest types and communities Book industry as a whole consumes over one million tons or nearly 20 million trees per year. Textbooks represent approximately 20% of this total consumption.

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According to Eco-Libris, approx 20 million trees are being cut down every year to produce the books sold in the U.S. alone. For example, if a publisher sells one million copies of a 250-page book, it will take over 12,000 trees to produce just that one book.

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The Green Press Initiative estimates that nearly 40% of the materials found in landfills are paper products that produce methane as it degrades – a greenhouse gas with 21x the heat trapping power of carbon dioxide.

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Continuing encouragement of publishers and paper mills to determine recycled fiber threshold levels and to develop/utilize textbook papers w/ recycled and FSC fiber. Working w/ state agencies, colleges and university systems and professors, and individual schools and districts to communicate environmental goals. Working with textbook purchasers (states, districts, college book stores) to incorporate environmental paper specifications into contracts. What can publishing companies do to help ?

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By reducing the number of new editions of printed textbooks every year publishers will be helping to preserve the environment.

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If that doesn't sway you, CafeScribe states that it can save students close to $2,000 over a four-year college career with electronic textbooks, so if you’re not interested in saving the planet, saving a little green of another type might be more your style.

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With electronic textbooks you're not only saving trees, you are saving some green. With electronic textbooks you're not only saving trees, you are saving some green.

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What is the Political Science Department at Oklahoma State University doing for you? We average approximately 3000 students each year in POLS 1113. If we accept the number given earlier that 12 books would equal one tree, then 3000 / 12 = 250 trees saved. The electronic textbook costs students $47*; the printed copy of the common textbook is $120 brand new. 3000 students x $120 = $360,000* 3000 students x $47 = $141,000* Collectively we are saving students over $219,000* Individually we are saving students on average $73* *These assumptions do not include the cost added to the electronic text by the Student Union Bookstore, who added more than 25% to the cost.