Save our Air

Have you ever stopped to think about trees? And I mean really think about them? I will be the first to admit that I never really did. Now, however, I am forcing myself to do so. Most people really believe that the world could ever run out of trees, and while it is somewhat of crazy thought, at the rate we are cutting them down, we are starting to really make a dent. And think about the consequences of losing all of these trees. Not only are we taking away the beauty that mother earth has provided us, but we are also taking away our oxygen.  Now I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked, I couldn’t last for very long without oxygen.

So here we are, cutting down all these trees and slowly extinguishing the valuable air that we breathe. And for what? Some overly large buildings that we don’t need; but that is not what I am here to talk about because, lets be honest, we personally probably can’t do to much to change that. Instead, what I am here to talk about is paper. I discussed a couple of weeks ago how astonished I was about the amount of paper we go through. But lets think about it this way, one person estimated that a single pine tree (what it seems most paper is made of) can produce 80,500 sheets of paper. That may seem like a very large number, but think about all of those large corporations that print out hundred page manuals, or all of the books you read. In retrospect, that number is probably much smaller than everyone thinks it is. Multiple trees are most likely gone through each year because we as a society has this obsessive need to print out every little bit of information on a piece of paper.

Now here is my second question. If we are a world of technology and are always advancing, why do we still feel the need to print everything out? People love the Internet, and their e-mails, so why not put them to good use? Classrooms should become 100% paper-free, everything turned in electronically. Those large corporations, instead of printing out a workers manual for every employee, shoot it too them in an email. When we buy a new gadget, have the instructions on a disk to pop in your computer instead of those booklets that no one really understand anyway. The books that we read, instead read them on those kindles that everyone is raving about.

Next time you reach for that print button, seriously think to yourself, is there any other way for me to accomplish my goal besides printing. Do this, make the right decision, and you would be helping to save one of our planets most precious resources. One that saves our lives everyday.

A.M.Y.