| Q: | Do we save trees by recycling? |
| A: | Recycling paper is very important for two reasons: it saves landfill space and it reduces the amount of methane — a greenhouse gas — that is emitted from a landfill when paper products and other materials buried there decompose. For this reason, everyone should recycle paper and mills should reuse the fiber as many times as possible.
Contrary to popular myth, recycling does not “save” trees because trees are grown and harvested for all different kinds of wood products. The straightest, smoothest and most valuable trunk (16 ft or taller) is used for furniture and lumber; the poorest quality parts are used to make paper, or for firewood; and the tops can be chipped for biomass energy generation. At Finch, we do not waste any of our wood resource, finding markets for everything from cherry veneer cabinetry to landscaping mulch. If society discontinued its use of ALL wood products, there may no longer be a need to harvest trees. But we have to ask ourselves whether that makes sense. Society needs paper, building materials and furniture. Wood is a wonderful, renewable raw material for all of those products, and can be harvested and regenerated for generations in a very responsible, environmentally sound manner. Some parts of the tree are left in the forest for overall ecosystem health such as cover/habitat for wildlife and nutrients for the soil. |
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