Hampshire Paper Consumption in Context

Trends in paper consumption; their economic and environmental effects

“The Paperless Office”

“global consumption of office paper more than doubled in the last two decades of the 20th century, as digital technology made printing cheaper and easier than ever before”(5).

Source: http://sustainablepractices.ning.com/pages/page/show?id=1037707%3APage%3A3601

Source: http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12381449

Potential Costs of High Levels of Paper Consumption

Economic Costs:• cost of paper for its manufacture• amount of ink and energy for printing,

copying, and faxing• cost of shipping more• cost of storing more• cost of disposing and recycling

Environmental Costs:• depleted forests• energy consumption used for cutting,

transporting, and pulping trees; • for manufacturing paper; for shipping paper• energy used to send paper to landfill or to

recycling facility(3)

In Focus: Forest Depletion• “Assuming the consumption rate of paper

for the previous two hundred years continues without intervention then in roughly 300 years the U.S. would completely deplete its forests. (2)”

• “In the last year [2006], logging in the Southeastern U.S. resulted in a loss of land about the size of New Jersey (5 million acres).(4)”

• Impact of Environmental Racism “Pulping the South” (6)

The Wages of Whiteness:Environmental effects of paper bleaching and processing

Air PollutionWater ConsumptionEnergy ConsumptionSolid Waste (slurry)

” A single pulp and paper facility that uses or stores chlorine or chlorine dioxide can endanger a large number of people. In Ohio, a single facility places 1.2 million people at risk in a worst-case chemical release; in Tennessee, a single facility endangers more than 600,000 people.”(7)

Getting Rid of It:the problems of paper disposal and recycling

• Paper makes up 40% of landfill waste in the U.S. (1)• Problems of Recycling:

– Requires an additional curbside-pickup truck – may reduce amount of new trees planted – can be more expensive than landfill disposal (8)

Paper Product Consumption at Hampshire College

• Looked at 2007-2008 & 2008-2009

• Paper, envelopes, paper towels, and toilet paper

• Got most of the information from Purchasing, but also talked to a lot of vendors

• Office survey

Uncertainties• Overlap of information from office survey and looking

at records.• Offices have their own budget to order things with-

how much/many paper products do they order without going through purchasing?

• Paper is complicated- what does the difference in thickness and color mean?

• Per capita- how do accurately account for the time students are here and their usage vs. time and use of faculty and staff?

• Input of information- how do you accurately crunch the numbers down with so many different units and kinds of data?!

04/19/23

Survey of Offices

• Survey of all Hampshire College offices, asking about paper consumption

• Focused on copy paper, envelopes, and tissues

04/19/23

Survey Results• Data from 6 offices so far:

– Library– Physical Plant– Institutional Advancement– Communications– HACU– Lemelson

• Average number of employees 60, range 9 (Communications) to 185 (HACU)

• Different offices have different activities, material needs

04/19/23

Survey Results• Printer/copier paper (fiscal year 2007):

– total 173 cases, average 29 cases/office, range 0 (Lemelson) to 79 cases (Library)

– mostly 8.5 x 11 in paper– average 0.45 cases per capita, range 0 (Lemelson) to

1.05 cases per capita (Library)

Paper consumption (cases)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Paper consumption (FY2007)

Library

Phys. Plant

Institutional Advancement

Communications

HACU

Lemelson

Paper consumption per capita (cases)

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Paper per capita (FY2007)

Library

Phys. Plant

Institutional Advancement

Communications

HACU

Lemelson

04/19/23

Survey Results• Envelopes (fiscal year 2007):

– total 5500 envelopes, average 917 envelopes/office, range 0 (Physical Plant, Communications) to 3000 envelopes (HACU)

– average 12.35 envelopes per capita, range 0 (Physical Plant, Communications) to 51.28 envelopes per capita (Institutional Advancement)

Envelopes (number)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Envelopes (FY2007)

Library

Phys. Plant

Institutional Advancement

Communications

HACU

Lemelson

Envelopes per capita (number)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Envelopes per capita (FY2007)

Library

Phys. Plant

Institutional Advancement

Communications

HACU

Lemelson

04/19/23

Survey Results• Tissues (fiscal year 2007):

– total 46 boxes, average 7.67 boxes/office, range 0 (Physical Plant, Communications) to 24 boxes per office (Institutional Advancement)

– average 0.15 boxes per capita, range 0 (Physical Plant, Communications) to 0.62 boxes per capita (Institutional Advancement)

Tissues (boxes)0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Tissues (FY2007)

Library

Phys. Plant

Institutional Ad-vancement

Communications

HACU

Lemelson

Tissues per capita (boxes)0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Tissues per capita (FY2007)

Library

Phys. Plant

Institutional Ad-vancement

Communications

HACU

Lemelson

04/19/23

Survey Results

• For many offices, paper use fluctuates throughout the year.

• Paper waste:– on average, 94% of paper waste is recycled; range

80% (Lemelson) to 100% (Communications)– on average, 49% of paper waste comes from

incoming mail; range 5% (Institutional Advancement) to 80% (Communications)

“Most of the mail from other departments is a waste of paper. They should do it via email. A lot of it is stuff our department does not care about.” -Physical Plant

04/19/23

Survey Results

• Uses of paper:– on average, 68% of paper is used within the office

versus 32% sent out; range 15%/85% (Institutional Advancement) to 99%/1% (Physical Plant)

– average distribution of paper use:• 9% flyers/posters• 46% in-office use• 8% on-campus mail• 20% off-campus mail• 16% public/student use (e.g. in the library)

04/19/23

Survey ResultsLibrary

Flyers/posters

In-office use

On-campus mail

Off-campus mail

Public/student use

Institutional Advancement

Flyers/posters

In-office use

On-campus mail

Off-campus mail

Public/student use

Communications

Flyers/posters

In-office use

On-campus mail

Off-campus mail

Public/student use

HACU

Flyers/posters

In-office use

On-campus mail

Off-campus mail

Public/student use

Lemelson

Flyers/posters

In-office use

On-campus mail

Off-campus mail

Public/student use

AVERAGE

Flyers/posters

In-office use

On-campus mail

Off-campus mail

Public/student use

04/19/23

Survey Results

• Printers/copiers:– total 40 machines, average 6.67 machines per

office, range 4 (Communications, Lemelson) to 11 machines (Physical Plant)

– average 0.24 machines per capita, range 0.09 (Library) to 0.44 (Communications)

– 27% of machines are capable of double-sided printing

– 0% set to print double-sided as the default

04/19/23

Survey Results• Other paper products:

– 83% of offices surveyed use notepad/stationary paper

– 50% use notecards– 33% use postcards or other cards– 17% use cardboard– 83% use paper plates/bowls– 100% use paper cups– 83% use paper napkins– 83% use paper towels (not including paper towels

in bathrooms)

04/19/23

Survey Results• Other paper products used by offices include:

– letterhead– envelopes with HC logo– notes cards and note card envelopes– invitations and invitation envelopes– NSS magazines– Hampshire Reports alumni/family newsletter– paper cut in thirds for gift receipts– booklets– postcards– manila envelopes– hanging folders– labels– color paper– writing pads– vellum paper

04/19/23

Survey Results

• This is a small sample, probably not representative of all offices.

• Lots of variation between different offices.• Didn't include all paper products.• But we see many opportunities for

improvement...

Clark UniversityThe report found:• Total quantity of machine paper purchased by Clark

University departments-measured in reams of paper.• Total quantity of recycled content machine paper

purchased by Clark University departments—measured in reams of paper.

• Total quantity of recycled content "institutional" paper purchased by Clark—measured in volume.

• Total amount of paper recycled—measured in volume.• Access to recycling bins in offices, dorms, and common

rooms (including classrooms and computer facilities)—measured in number of bins/room.

Clark UniversityGoals and Next Steps

• Generate initiatives to create a culture of environmental sustainability around paper conservation (i.e., possibly increased use of digital communications, education and training on paper formatting, increased use of electronic devices in teaching, and incentives).

• Continue to research sources of paper and other products with lower ecological footprints

Clark UniversityPaper Facts

• 1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets• 720 trees are harvested each year to supply printer/copy

paper for Clark University• By using paper of 30% recycled content, only 504 trees are

needed to supply Clark University with its printer/copy paper for a year.

• Reducing copy paper consumption by 10% and by using 30% recycled content paper, only 453 trees will be cut to supply Clark University with its printer / copy paper next year

Goucher CollegePrint Wisely Program

In the Spring 2006 semester, Goucher College implemented a “Print Wisely” program. The purpose of this program is to discourage wasteful printing, conserve environmental resources, and control printing costs to avoid passing these rising costs to students. Decisions on the aspects of this program were developed in collaboration with students.

Goucher CollegeAbout the program:• Students will each have a quota of 600 pages for the

semester.• Balance reminders sent electronically• Double-sided printing easily available – professors

encouraged to accept double-sided papers• Color printing “costs” more• Balance does not accumulate from year to year• Use of 100% recycled content encouraged• Discussions with students and faculty about the

program program

Mount Holyoke• “how to recycle” information and recycle quality plea

• Recycle bins in offices, residential areas, and public

areas for: paper, bottles, cans, ink cartridges,

computers, cell phones, light bulbs, foam peanuts,

cardboard boxes, batteries, books, and used clothes

• Monthly recycling report (July ’08-present) detailing

the amount of material recycled available to everyone

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/es/22042.shtml

Tons Paper & Cardboard Recyclingat Mount Holyoke College

FY07-08 vs annual average of previous 5 fiscal years

185.65

153.94

0

50

100

150

200

250

5 yr historical FY07-08

Lbs paper & cardboard recycled per studentFY07-08

•Per capita data includes material from entire campus divided by number of students (as the common population denominator.

234.45

95.07

139.71163.61

Amherst Hampshire Mount Holyoke Smith0

50

100

150

200

250

300

What Hampshire can do to lower it’s Paper Consumption

1. Encourage double-sided printing for students and make it default setting for school printers

2. Encourage using smaller margins to save paper3. Limit or eliminate on-campus junk mail4. Limit or eliminate flyers5. Try do to more electronic and live communication6. Provide information on and resources for recycling

and re-use7. Create better, more convenient recycling facilities8. Limit or eliminate colored paper usage and other

non-recyclable paper products

Sources• http://www.woodconsumption.org/products/paper.pdf

• http://sustainablepractices.ning.com/pages/page/show?id=1037707%3APage%3A3601

• http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~envpurchase/materials_paper_consume.htm

• http://www.greenschools.net/news/paperarticle.htm

• http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12381449

• http://www.wrm.org.uy/plantations/information/Lang1.html

• http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/healthy-communities/healthy-communities/pulp-fiction-chemical-hazard-reduction-at-pulp-and-paper-mills

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_recycling#Working_conditions

• http://www.clarku.edu/offices/campusSustainability/energyuse/paperoverview.cfm

• http://www.goucher.edu/x2987.xml

• http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/es/8436.shtml