Each year during the holiday season people begin decorating and buying gifts. For those that celebrate Christmas, an important decision is choosing a tree. This includes deciding if it will be a real or artificial Christmas tree – especially in the US and Canada. How does your decision impact the environment? Cost, convenience, and personal preference are all important considerations, but so too is the environmental impact.

Research has shown that locally-sourced natural trees have less environmental impact than artificial ones. An independent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) study released by the Montreal firm Elliposos [1] determined that real trees have less overall impact in terms of distribution, disposal, and average carbon emissions than their artificial counterparts. The LCA method allows for evaluation of potential environmental impacts of a product (or service) over its entire life cycle and takes raw material processing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, use, reuse, recycling and disposal impacts into consideration. [2]

When it comes to artificial trees, the key to achieving environmental gains lies in the amount of time they are kept and reused. Average households replace an artificial tree about every six years.  Evidence shows that, in general, artificial trees need to be reused for at least 20 years if they are to compare favorably with natural trees.

“It makes sense to choose the tradition that suits your needs while also considering the best environmental practices,” says Kathryn Fernholz, Executive Director of Dovetail Partners, a Minneapolis-based environmental think tank. “If you choose a real tree, you can get to know your local grower and recycle your tree at the end of the holiday season. If you choose an artificial tree, make sure to reuse it for as many years as possible.  Whichever route you go, your goal can be to pass the tradition of selecting a tree – or even the tree itself – down to the next generation!”

Additional environmentally-friendly measures you can take during the holidays include use of recycled and recyclable wrapping paper and greeting cards, use of LED holiday bulbs; and reuse and recycling of real trees and other decorations at the end of the season such as through collection programs, composting, wood chipping or planting.

[1] The study can be found here: Couillard, Sylvain; Bage et. all. “Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Artificial VS Natural Christmas Tree.” Ellipsos. February 2009. 

[2] To learn more about LCA, read Dovetail’s report “Life Cycle Analysis: A Key to Better Environmental Decisions.”

The post Real vs Artificial Christmas Trees – An Environmental Perspective first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

1. Glue the outside and inside of your toilet roll with red or green paper.
2. Flatten the roll, and cut a half moon shape out of the front top and bottom of the roll.
3. Attach a black strip to form the belt. About a 2cm width.
4. Use silver cardboard and cut a buckle, glue onto belt.
5. Cut our black dots about half a cm in diameter to form the buttons and glue onto the body.

Source: http://www.recyclart.org/2013/12/christmas-crafts-projects-made-toilet-paper-rolls/

The post Christmas knife and fork holder first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

1. Cut various sizes of cardboard inners at 4cm width.
2. Glue them together to form your desired wreath.
3. Spray paint with gold spray paint.
4. Glue Christmas tree ball decoration in larger inners.
5. Attach chain or thick string to make a hanger.  You can use knobs as per the photo, or use screw hooks.
6. Hang on your door for all to see.

Inspiration: This idea was made with PVC pipes on http://www.topinspired.com/top-10-diy-fun-and-useful-pvc-pipe-crafts/.

The post Christmas door wreath first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

Despite increased awareness, large amounts of recoverable paper and board packaging are still unnecessarily dumped in landfill sites. According to the Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (RecyclePaperZA), only 5% of homes actively recycle their paper and board.

Paper, one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable products, is made from farmed trees, just as your bread or cereal is made from farmed wheat or corn.

In South Africa, 600 million trees across 762,000 hectares are specifically grown for use in pulp and paper manufacture and the industry plants in excess of 260,000 trees every single day. South Africa’s timber plantations, which cater for pulp and paper, furniture and other wood based-products, lock up 900 million tons of carbon dioxide and release life-giving oxygen through the natural process of photosynthesis.

Because trees, wood and paper products store carbon as solid matter, paper recycling is one of the simplest ways that we can green our future as we can help keep this carbon out of the atmosphere for longer.

“If we do not recycle, paper will rot among other rubbish and emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide,” says Ursula Henneberry, operations director for RecyclePaperZA.

Did you know?

• A tonne of recycled paper can save up to three cubic metres of landfill space and subsequently reduce transport costs for local municipalities.
• By recycling paper, milk and juice cartons, glass, aluminium and plastic, we contribute to less pollution and litter, and create a healthier, greener and cleaner society.
• Paper can be recycled up to seven times. Some virgin or new wood fibre is required to make recycled paper possible in the first place and is always needed to keep the global fibre cycle going.
• Recycling creates jobs for many in the informal and formal sector.

Top tips for aspiring recyclers

• Do your research and find out which companies collect paper in your area. Visit www.mywaste.co.za for these details.
• Do not mix your paper with other recyclables.
• Do not let your paper get wet or soiled by other rubbish. Keep it under cover or in a closed plastic container.
• Get to know what is recyclable and what is not. The following paper types cannot be recycled:
  • Foil gift wrapping and foil lined boxes
  • Wax coated or laminated boxes such as frozen food boxes
  • Empty cement and dog food bags
  • Disposable nappies
  • Carbon paper
  • Sticky notes

For more information about paper recycling, visit, www.mywaste.co.za or www.thepaperstory.co.za.

The post Pick paper for your presents and recycle it for your future first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).