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20 to 35 year cycles, depending on the tree species. Around the world, tree farms supply 16 % of all wood used
in the paper industry while the bulk comes from second growth forests. Only 9 % of the wood used to make pa-
per is harvested from old growth forests, which are impossible to replace because of their maturity.
Yet, while tree farms or plantations help feed the demand for wood, they cannot provide the plant and ani-
mal diversity found in natural forests. Plus, according to a 1996 report from the U.S. Forest Service, the rate of
harvest for softwood trees in the southern United States outpaced growth for the first time since 1953.
For these reasons, there is a growing chorus of entrepreneurs, environmentalists and inventors who are
coming up with ways to make paper without having to use as many chemicals or so many trees. Recycling is by
far the most common way to help save a tree. According to the Worldwatch Institute recycling efforts around
the world recovered about 110 million tons, or 43 %, of all paper used. About 45 % of all paper in the United
States was kept out of landfills in 1998 and almost all paper makers in the U.S. substitute some recycled paper
for virgin wood in the pulp making stage. Some paper mills rely on recycled waste as their primary source of
raw material.
Others point to agricultural waste as a stand in for wood. Agri-pulp, as it is called, is wheat, oat, barley and
other crop stalks left over after harvesting. Combined with recycled paper and other fillers, some paper makers
are finding that agri-pulp paper makes fine stationery.
Hemp is a wood substitute that has a rich history in the paper making industry from paper's origins in
China in the first century AD to the Declaration of Independence, which was written in the 18th century on
hemp paper. Hemp is now used to make rope and clothes as well as paper. Unfortunately, it is illegal to grow
hemp in the U.S. because it is a non-intoxicating variety of cannabis sativa, the same plant marijuana comes
from. For that reason, hemp must be imported for use in the U.S.
Kenaf is also known as an excellent tree-substitute in making paper. This 4,000-year-old hibiscus plant –
an annual, non-wood fiber plant related to okra and cotton – is native to central Africa and can grow up to 18
feet tall in a four-to-five month season. Like hemp, kenaf is naturally whiter than wood and can be bleached
with hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine.
One of the major reasons paper mills are hesitant to convert to using kenaf or hemp to make paper is be-
cause they are not set up to process anything except trees. Converting a paper mill to process these wood pulp
alternatives would cost tens of millions of dollars and major coordination with their suppliers and customers.
Still – like the conversion of radio to television as the major entertainment source in the 1950s and 1960s –
such a conversion from trees to non-wood source materials in the papermaking process can ultimately provide
extraordinary economics for the manufacturers and the consumers. It is simply a matter of the different groups
within the industry agreeing on how to best make it happen. And, it is going to take consumers like you and me
to start buying recycled products as well as alternative pulp.
What is certain is that with so much of our daily lives dependent on the material, paper is here to stay. Even
e-mail and the Internet have not slowed this demand. And yet, as research advances and the environmental im-
pact lessen, perhaps we will be able to live comfortably with paper for the next six thousand years.
Words and Expressions:
whopping – колоссальный, огромный
per capita – на человека, на душу населения
tissue – ткань
cardboard – картон
an insulation – обособление, изоляция
a sole – подошва, ступня
a staple – главный элемент
a pulp – плоть, мякоть, мягкая масса
hemp – конопля
fibrous – волокнистый, жилистый, фиброзный
kenaf – кенаф (лубяное волокно)
parchment – пергаментная бумага
a mulberry – шелковица, тутовое дерево
bark – кора (дерева)
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