• Around 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
• To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
• Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.
• One million tons of recovered paper is enough to fill more than 14,000 railroad cars.
• Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials.
• It takes 24 trees to make 1 ton of newspaper.
• An average American uses 465 trees worth of paper during their lifetime.
• Recycling half the world’s paper would free 20 million acres of forest land.
• Paper plus cardboard combined make up 73% of the materials in a landfill

Office paper can be reused by bringing used office paper to a printer who can bind the papers into pads for internal office use (taking notes, sketches, etc.).  Typical 8.5 inch by 11 inch sheets of paper can be made into a variety of recycled paper pads: 8.5” by 11”, 5.5” by 8.5”, and 4.25” by 5.5”.  The small recycled paper pads make excellent note pads for your home.

Recycling is Required

Municipal and state regulations require that residents, commercial establishments and non-residential establishments recycle all recyclable materials.  Commonly recycled materials include:

• Paper – newspaper, office/copy paper, glossy paper, color paper, cardboard, junk mail, phone books, cereal/cracker boxes
• Plastic – bottles and jugs No. 1-7
• Glass – clear, green and brown containers
• Metal – aluminum, steel, tin, and bimetal cans and containers

You should check with your hauler for a complete list of acceptable recyclable materials.