green house gases

For his Senior Project, Terrell Carter decided to study the environmental impacts of the pulp and paper industry, present some solutions to these impacts, and work to change his school’s purchasing habits and to increase paper consciousness. Carter succeeded in his goal of “Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling”: Lopez School faculty and students now give more thought to their paper consumption (for example, they print double-sided), reuse paper, and buy recycled paper.

Carter chose to focus on the paper problem because the American pulp and paper industry is among the most resource-intensive and highly polluting of all manufacturing industries. Moreover, most Americans don’t realize how much they damage the environment through paper usage: the paper industry is one of the largest consumers of raw materials, especially of water and wood. Throughout the production, bleaching, transportation, and decomposition phases, the paper industry emits greenhouse gases, degrades and destroys forests, lessens biodiversity, releases dangerous toxins as a result of fertilizers, and pollutes water and air.

Carter believed that something had to be done: people had to start to be more conscious about paper usage. He researched various kinds of recycled paper, possible suppliers, and what it would cost the school to switch to recycled paper. Then, he presented to the Board, the Budget Committee, and the faculty on his findings and his eco-friendly goals. In August 2007, the school first began purchasing 40% post-consumer waste recycled paper, which is processed chlorine-free, FSC certified, and made with 100% renewable energy. Soon after, the school purchased 100% recycled paper, and even went on to purchase 100% recycled paper towels and 20% recycled toilet paper.

Carter embodies Conscious Lifestyle’s ideas about individual and institutional social responsibility, and as a result of his efforts, Lopez School and its inhabitants are living a much more “conscious lifestyle.” If you would like to learn more about Carter’s project, please read his paper here (in this paper, he cites State of the Paper Industry and a paper calculator).

If Carter’s story has inspired you, and you have a project that increases individuals’ and schools’ social responsibility, consider applying to be a Conscious Lifestyle venture today! Or, if you want to support Conscious Lifestyle but not be a venture, you can support Conscious Lifestyle by using Good Search: every time you enter a search, Conscious Lifestyle gets funding!