All around us we hear pleas to “Save a tree, don’t print this email”, “Go paperless” and other such expressions designed to make you feel positively guilty if you do print the email and if you don’t go paperless.

• Contrary to some myths, the forest products industry plants more than 1.7 million trees per day! Within that, European forests have been growing by over 1,500 football pitches e-v-e-r-y day! So when we use paper we can be sure that there are plenty more trees being planted every day; using paper is just part of that viable cycle.
• Paper is sustainable - in the words of Jonathon Porritt, "There aren’t many industries around that can aspire to becoming genuinely sustainable. The paper industry, however, is one of them; it is inherently sustainable." No arguing there.
• Unlike other means of communication, paper is portable, secure, consistent and permanent. Plus, it’s 100% recyclable. In fact, paper is one of the most recycled products in the world! As long as we’re all doing our bit and recycling as much as possible, it’s an authentically renewable product.
• Planting new trees combats global warming. For every ton of wood a forest produces, it removes 1.47 tonnes of CO2 from the air and replaces it with 1.07 tons of oxygen. By planting new trees (at a rate of 1.7m per day, don’t forget), we’re helping to rid the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and replace it with fresh oxygen. Translate that into our everyday lives, and when we use paper on a daily basis, we’re actively involved in the fight against global warming.
• Sourcing your paper from companies who care about the environment and are environmentally responsible means you can be sure that the paper you buy comes from well-managed forests. Look out for the forest certification which ensures wood comes from such forests.