Bos HUNTER OF ALL the environmentally-destructive products we use, paper is surely the most ubiquitous and the mosi taken for granted. It accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the waste that ends up in landfill sites. It doesn’t biodegrade with anything like the speed we’ve assumed it does. And it is respon- sible for the fact that shellfish along the coast contain so much dioxin they can’t safely be eaten any more. As we move slowly into an era when newspapers will be compos- ed of recycled paper and, if we follow the European lead, paper towels and toilet paper will be manufactured from unbleached paper, it is worth considering the largely-hidden environmental im- pact of paper, which is arguably the basic stuff of civilization. ce M. odern pulp and paper production technology involves the creation of some of the most toxic effluent produced by any industry.’’ As ascribe with nearly five mil- lion published words under his belt, 1 am, of course, a mass tree-murderer. My books, maga- zine articles and newspaper co!- ums over the years have all been printed on this wonderful materi- al. And yes, it sure beats chiselling my prose on stone tablets. Writers have historically had lit- ‘tle choice in the matter of just what, exactly, their immortal messages would be printed on. There are a few brave pioneers like North Vancouver’s Frank Ogden, the futurist, who publishes a column on computer disks that can be flashed on a reader's screen, thereby sparing entire forests as well as streams that would otherwise be contaminated. For anybody who would like to know just what goes into the pro- cess of preparing the paper upon which you are reading this, | recommend a booklet called The Greenpeace Guide to Paper, It tells you everything you ever wanted to know about paper and slightly more, Certainly, it would be an excellent thing for students to study. The guide begins by noting that, given a choice, most of us would buy a paper shopping bag instead of a plastic one if our goal was to be good ecological citizens. But in fact that choice is far less ob- viously the right one than most of us think. Modern pulp and paper produc- tion technology involves the cre- ation of some of the most toxic effluent produced by any industry. Modern monoculture logging 7 VINY practices have a devastating im- pact on nature. Pulp and paper mills use horrendous amounts of energy and use up tremendous quantities cf fresh water. All talk of recycling aside, the demand for photocopies, fax, computer print-outs, direct mailouts and disposable paper preducts has been accelerating at such a rate that production of pulp has been on the rise in recent years, Take my word for it, this is not a good time to reincarnate as a tree. Paper was a Chinese invention. It wasn’t introduced to Western Europe until the 12th century, when the Moors brought it to Spain. Demand for paper didn’t really get rolling until the inven- tion of the printing press, and even then most paper was made from rags and grass fibres. As the demand for paper began to outstrip the supply of linen, periodic ‘‘paper famines’’ occur- red, a problem which wasn’t resolved until the middle of the 19th century when the process for making paper from wood was fi- nally devised. Today, it is impossible to imag- ine a world without paper. How would governments, schools, in- dustry and, indeed, newspapers function? No one can argue that illiteracy is a good thing, but the truth is that literacy itself has a hidden environmental cost that we have never bothered to think about un- til now. If paper could be peeled straight off the trees, it wouldn’t be a problem — unless of course you happened to be a tree or a squirrel or a bird or a termite. The ecolegical horror show re- ally begins when the logs get to the pulp mill. The cellulose fibres, which make up about half of the wood, have to be separated to create the pulp, which is further processed. The pulping is done either by boil- ing the wood in chemicals, or mechanically, by grinding it up. Both of the two main chemical pulping processes involve using sulphur-based chemicals. That oh-so-familiar stench of rotting eges which wafts across Howe Sound and causes the camper on his way to Long Beach to gag as he passes through Port Alberni (usually with the windows rolled up) is caused by efforts to recover the chemicals. It should be kept in mind that only the cellulose is eventually us- ed in the creation of paper, which means that half of the remains of each tree is burnt to help provide energy for the mill. The most commonly-used pro- cess is kraft pulping, which dras- tically limits the amount of chem- icals involved, but which still results in the release of between one and three kilograms of sulphur dioxide into the at- mosphere for every tonne of pulp. To be continued. 10-50% OFF All work guaranteed! « weatherproal « same day use © no peeling, cracking or bubbling ¢ textured skid-resistan: surface Four Seasons Vinyi Deck (9 outlets ie serve you} Free Estimates 275-6237 “PLEASE HELP US... | to provide milk, bread, fruits and vegetables, etc. ...FEED THE HUNGRY IN OUR COMMUNITY ¢ $20 helps us buy a weekly bag of groceries tor one family $60 helps sustain a family for one month ¢ $720 assists that same family for a year Please help those in need. All donations are tax deductible. 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