A Tangled Web
Conventional wisdom says that to reduce our impact on the earth, we should use online communication instead of printed materials whenever possible. Unfortunately, online communication has its own set of environmental pitfalls.

World-wide, the data farms that serve up web content consume 0ver 100 billion kilowatts per year (for comparison, the Hoover Dam produces only 4 billion kilowatts of energy per year). If all that power came from green sources, it might not be so bad. But 57% of the electricity produced in the U.S. comes from coal, which is responsible for 67% of all sulfur dioxide emissions.

Coal Powers the Web

Microsoft’s data center in Quincy Washington alone is 450,000 square feet and contains tens of thousands of computers. They have seven such centers worldwide, and that’s just Microsoft. On average, server farm computers have a lifespan of only 4 years. After that, these toxic little machines are off to the landfill. Only 18% of computer hardware is recycled. 70% of the toxic waste in landfills comes from e-waste.

A Toxic Graveyard

Electronic communications take a toll on the environment in the form of strip mining (for coal), air pollution, the export of toxic trash to the Third World, and more. And if people like the message they see on their screen, they are likely to print it out anyway. Because people like paper.

This is not to say we should shut down the web. But it is to say that you have a choice in media and that every web site you visit has an environmental cost.

The Benefits of Paper
Now, let’s look at the environmental effects of using paper.

If our goal were to put as many cows on the earth as possible, what would be the best way we could make that happen? By consuming more milk. More demand means cows are worth more, and more cows are required to meet the demand. When it comes to trees, it is a similar equation.

Tomorrow's Brochures

1,700,000 trees are planted each day to meet the demand for wood in America. And that’s not counting the trees that grow from seeds naturally. Trees planted for paper are planted just like any other crop. But because they take 10 years to mature, we enjoy environmental benefits throughout their life-cycle. Through photosynthesis, trees scrub the atmosphere of CO2 and produce oxygen. The more trees, the better.

For paper making, any sort of tree pulp works fine, so quick-growing trees are economically wise and entirely sustainable. Forests used for paper production are growing more than 20% faster than they are being consumed. The 13.2 million acres of old-growth forest in the U.S. is kept safe through regulation; the paper industry creates its own forests.

Pulp can also be made from the scraps left after boards are cut to make lumber. So paper making actually helps use wood that could otherwise be wasted.

Paper Mill in Southeastern U.S.: Water Supply, Trees, Woodchips, Plant

The paper-making process requires chemicals to separate pulp from lignin (the stuff that makes cheaper papers yellow over time). 99% of these chemicals are recovered through internal recycling.

Other forms of fiber—from cotton, flax, hemp, and more—are often blended with the pulp. Some paper is made entirely from non-wood sources, like cotton—even cotton from old clothes! Recycled paper content may also be added to the pulp, or the paper may be made from entirely recycled paper content.

Recycling
Recycling programs are efficient, save landfill space, and cause a quicker production cycle—recycled paper is ready for re-use in months versus the 10 years it takes to grow a 40′ pine tree.

57% of paper is recycled after use—a higher recycling percentage than metal, glass, and plastic combined. And paper can be recycled an average of five times!

Ready for Recycling!

100% recycled paper does not always perform as well as paper made from virgin pulp (it may not fold as well and can contain specks). But most paper has some recycled content as it makes good economic sense.

Being a Good Steward
In order to ensure that the paper you are using comes from renewable sources, a number of certifications have been established, including the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. Fathom can let you know the specifics of any paper we propose, from how the paper is certified to its percentage of recycled content. We can even spec paper that is made using 100% wind energy.

We can also ensure that your job is printed using non-petroleum-based inks. Petroleum-based inks release gasses (volatile organic compounds or VOCs) as they dry. Vegetable-based inks don’t.

There are other creative ways to be a good steward. We can design in ways that minimize paper waste, we can use paper that printers already have in stock, we can even use paper that printers were otherwise going to recycle (take a look at the below invitation we designed that used cardboard from a printer’s recycling bin).

Conclusions
Communicating in print is as environmentally viable as communicating online—and print has distinct strategic advantages: conveying a message that is immediate, lasting, dimensional, and harder to ignore. Select a medium for strategic reasons, because environmentally, both pixels and pulp have their pitfalls.

Whether your message requires a web site (we design them!) or a printed piece (we design them, too!) your decision to communicate a message will consume resources and will have an impact on the earth.

Excellent design will ensure you have an impact on your audience as well.