From the time we were in kindergarten, we have always learned about preserving trees and their importance to ecosystems. With aspects such as climate change, trees are more important than ever to help use extra carbon dioxide in the air. When we are told about preserving trees, one of the first things that come to mind is paper use. With new technology always developing, Chromebooks are now available to all students in the Hawthorne School District. The main goal of this is to use less paper to preserve the trees. Besides just using fewer trees to make paper, there are many other reasons why we should use less paper. Here are some other reasons why.

First, one of the main factors of climate change is adding carbon to the carbon cycle. One of the easiest ways to prevent carbon from being added to this cycle is by producing less paper in general. Paper takes a lot of carbon, fuel, and water to make. According to tiredearth.com, by saving a ton of paper, you can “save 17 trees, 26000 liters of water, 4000 kilowatts of power supply, and 240 liters of fuel.”  It may not seem like it, but the average office worker throws away about 160kgs of paper in the course of the day after printing. 50% of business waste is also just paper alone.

Second, according to tiredearth.com, paper takes up “25% of landfill waste and 33% of municipal waste.” When things such as paper and other products go into landfills, it goes into a massive pile. Though products like paper are supposed to biodegrade, greenhouse gasses (gasses in the atmosphere caused by electricity and transportation), and the compiling of items on top of each other, paper is no longer degrading at the speed it should. Just like carbon dioxide, greenhouse gasses like methane are causing climate change. 

Third, the use of less paper ultimately preserves and protects the natural resources of Earth. Though we mainly know trees and saving paper to help save oxygen, but it also goes a bit deeper than that. Trees and the materials used to make paper are considered natural resources. Though trees are considered renewable resources, the fossil fuels we use to make them are not. Though, if we keep cutting down trees to the point of extinction, trees can eventually become a non-renewable resource. 

Nature is a beautiful thing and should be enjoyed for years and years to come. With a little help from everyone the world can because a more beautiful place.