Paper and Packaging

From trimming paper use at Citigroup to helping catalog company Norm Thompson Outfitters switch to recycled content, we are committed to reducing paper waste across the U.S.

Now our Paper Calculator tool is helping companies improve their paper management.

The Challenge

Despite the ubiquity of digital communications, paper use is on the rise. About one third of municipal landfill waste is paper and packaging. Also, producing paper is energy intensive:

• Paper production is the third most energy-intensive of all U.S. manufacturing industries,
• Producing paper uses 11.5 percent of all energy in the industrial sector.
• One third of all wood harvested in the country goes into paper products.

Thus, paper use presents the potential for enormous environmental savings.

The Solutions

Over the past decade, we've teamed up with a number of top companies in a variety of industries to reduce the use of paper and switch to recycled paper wherever possible.

Calculator saves resources, costs

Now we offer our Paper Calculator as a resource for companies to calculate the benefits of better paper choices — and rack up environmental savings.

Who's using it

This interactive tool has become a hit. More than 500 times each month, users like Random House, Staples, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, and Starbucks assess their paper purchases on our PaperCalculator.org site. Even Harry Potter calculated that he saved 8,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions by printing on recycled paper.

Posted: 07-Jul-2007; Updated: 24-Dec-2008