I like paper. It can be recycled easily, readily available and biodegrades quickly. The problem is that when it comes to cosmetics, it can only be used for a few products like salves and lip balms. Water based products are a no go. They are expensive and there are very few options available in sizes and shapes.

On top of that, the global estimate to keep up with paper demand is between 4-8 BILLION trees cut down annually. As I often drive through the mountains of Alberta and BC, I admit that like most of us, I hate seeing the clear cutting on the sides of the mountains and I feel a twinge of guilt over my house framed in wood, my many paper books and the many sheets of paper that I waste each year. I would love to live in a strawbale house but lets face it, it still takes wood.

We can and do replace trees that we have cut down to make our paper but it still takes a long time to grow a tree.

Lets face it, approx 26% of our landfills are from discarded paper products. The good news is that in Canada almost 70% of our paper is recycled while the States is not far behind with 68% of it’s paper being recycled.

The bad news: pulp and paper mills generate the third largest amount of industrial air, water and land and gas emissions (that contribute to global warming) in Canada and the 6th largest in the US. In the USA, paper production contributes 20% of ALL industrial of toxic waste into the air and 9% of the toxic releases into our waters.

• Did you know that to produce 1 kg of paper requires 324 LITRES of water?
• Paper production is the 5th largest consumer of energy in the world!

Check out this site:https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/other-products/environmental-impact-of-paper  and google this one: The impacts of Paper on the Environment

And then there is the bleaching and paper making process itself. The Canadian government itself released a paper on the negative effects to our environment from the bleaching process of paper. Just google it to find the paper. In fact there are scientific papers from paper producing countries all published in scientific journals ALL speaking on the environmental destruction, toxic effects and cumulative damage of paper making.

Pros of using paper packaging:

• recyclable
• fairly lightweight compared to glass
• can’t break
• made from a renewable resource

Cons:

• 30% still ends up in the landfill
• high energy cost to make paper
• highly toxic to environment to make paper
• billions of trees are needed and trees take time to regrow
• extremely high water cost
• limited sizes, shapes and product can use paper

Bottom line: Not my first choice or even my second choice.