Choosing paper-based products and packaging is the easy way to support forests and to do right by the planet. Did you know that paper is one of the few truly sustainable materials in the U.S.?
Most paper is made from the wood pulp found in trees. Paper producers work with private landowners to continually source, plant, and grow trees. Thanks to their efforts, the volume of tree growth in the United States each year is roughly double the amount harvested.
And a strong demand for paper and paper-based packaging—from flyers and brochures to direct mail—is a powerful incentive for those landowners to keep doing what they’re doing rather than clear-cutting forested land for other types of development.
So instead of paper and cardboard boxes destroying forests, they’re actually helping to sustain and nurture them. The U.S. has about 766 million acres of forests, and trees are cut and removed from only about 2% of forest land each year—less than the amount impacted naturally by disease, insect damage, and fire.
Sustainable forestry practices, meanwhile, help keep woodlands healthy and flourishing so that they can store carbon, slow climate change, and improve soil and water quality. At the same time, they provide an abundance of habitat for deer, wild turkeys, foxes, quail, rabbits and other wildlife.
What does that mean for us? Trees—an infinitely renewable resource—are good for the planet and good for us. Which is why using paper is the smart and sustainable choice that you can feel good about.