Paper - it's everywhere. Look around. How much paper do you see? The poster on the wall, the advertisement on the bus stop, your coffee cup from the cafe, the cardboard box. . . . Reach into your pocket. Your money, old receipts, and business cards are all made from paper.

Paper products make our lives easy and enjoyable. But their production uses vast amounts of trees, minerals, energy, water, and chemicals, so we need to use them in the best ways possible.

Did you know that only 20% of the world's population consumes over 87% of the world's printing and office paper? With product consumption in countries like the U.S. and Canada so high and the environmental impact of production so large, we must develop ways to reduce our use of resources while maintaining the important benefits we get from the products.

A good first step is to become aware of our personal paper use.

Read an account of 24 hours of paper usage.

Keep track of your own paper use: download our pocket sized paper journal. View printing and folding instructions.

Tell us about your paper use: email us with the results of your paper tracking, and we will post some of the best examples.

Are there ways you can cut back on paper use without losing the important benefits of
those products? Some people bring refillable ceramic mugs to cafes for their coffee
rather than using paper cups. Many use washable rags to mop up spills in the
kitchen instead of paper towels. Tell us how you use less paper and we'll print
the bestof those, as well.