Paper and Cardboard

Recycling is important, but not for the reasons you may think. Although it takes 7 trees to make 1 tonne of paper, or 1 tree to make 15000 sheets of A4, trees used to make paper are easily grown and replaced.

The energy used to reduce trees to pulp, however, means that paper made from trees uses 65% more energy than a process using recovered paper. It also means that instead of growing forests using lines of conifer trees, land can be used to plant natural forests instead. Natural forests contain a diverse range of deciduous and coniferous trees and as their name suggests are allowed to grow and mature naturally.

Natural forests are not only much better at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and therefore help to combat global warming; they also provide a much better habitat for animals and fauna.