Throughout history, ideas or works of scholars, poets, playwrights, and philosophers have been written in books. The current generation uses more notebooks – from aspiring writers to business owners and staff, countless people use them daily.
Since more notebooks are used every day for different reasons, it means that more resources are required to keep up with public demand. Notebooks are products of the forest and when these areas are explored for new resources, the environment and wildlife suffer.
To prevent the mass destruction of trees for the production of paper and to conserve resources, recycling is the sustainable option to provide more notebook paper.
But if your question is “How you can recycle notebook paper”, then stay with us and continue reading to find out more.
What Is a Notebook?
According to Wikipedia, a notebook is a book or stack of paper pages often ruled and used for note-taking, scrapbooking, drawing, or other writing purposes. It’s also known as a notepad, writing pad, or legal pad.1
Paper is the most important writing tool for modern-day handwritten documentation. It’s widely used in our everyday lives, from academic institutions at all levels to businesses and organizations.
Important interactions require the use of a paper to jot down important points and shared ideas. Even in places of worship, notebooks are used to jot down important scripture references on a specific topic.
Attendees at seminars and other events often use notebooks to jot down shared information and ideas of value.
Daily use of notebooks in our everyday lives is building up waste from used papers that are discarded improperly. If more recycling of paper is prioritized, we have less paper waste and fewer resources extracted from nature to make more.
According to a survey by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) Nagpur, about 17 trees are cut down for the production of a tom of paper.2
Academic institutions, for example, use more paper, generating more waste that pollutes the environment. I can attest to this, judging from the large piles of paper locked in different storerooms at my faculty building during my university days.
Recycling is the best alternative to reduce paper waste while preserving natural resources and energy consumption.3 By recycling office paper alone, we can save 33% of the energy and thousands of gallons of water required to make more paper from trees.4
Learn more: How to Recycle Paper Bags
Turning Waste Paper into Notebooks (An initiative to reduce paper waste by Ranger Paper)
Paper Ranger is a Bangkok-based project inspiring eco-minded volunteers to protect the environment by transforming waste paper into useful notebooks.
This initiative is focused on helping disadvantaged school kids across rural areas in Thailand. The recycled notebooks are distributed to kids in these areas.5
The initiative is not only helping disadvantaged school kids get new writing materials, but it also contributes to a more eco-friendly environment.
How to Recycle Notebook Paper
Paper is 100% recyclable and the best part is that recycling can be done multiple times.
A regular spiral notebook is usually designed with a cardboard cover, which protects the paper. Spiral notebooks are available in different types and sizes. One common feature of these notebooks is the coil at the top or side that holds the paper together.
Check Metal and Plastic Coils
The coils holding the paper together in spiral notebooks were originally made of metal. New spiral notebooks now have plastic coils.
A few advanced recycling systems allow used notebooks with metal or plastic spiral binding coils to be thrown into the recycling bin. These recycling systems can automatically separate plastic or metal spiral binding coils from used notebooks during recycling.
However, you may need to find out if the recycling facility near you accepts throwing used notebooks with plastic or metal binding coils into recycling bins. You may need to disassemble all used notebooks before throwing them into a recycling bin.
Consider Removing Plastic Covers
Before throwing used notebooks into a recycling bin, remove any plastic cover to avoid contaminating the batch of paper recycling. The plastic covers are often taken and recycled separately.
You May Need to Remove the Cardboard Covers
The decision to leave cardboard covers on used notebooks depends on how the recycling service handles cardboard. You may be allowed to leave the cardboard and paper together because they are mostly recycled with the paper.
Get in touch with your local recycling facility to find out if they allow the dumping of used notebooks with cardboard covers.
All Paper Recycling
Notebooks and other forms of paper are materials that we can recycle up to five to seven times. You can take your used notebooks to recycling facilities near you. However, you need to find out if it’s allowed to throw used notebooks with metal or plastic coils into recycling bins.
Environmental Impact of Paper Waste
Paper waste contributes to the emission of greenhouse gasses as carbon dioxide and methane are the two major GHGs produced in the paper life cycle.6
Forest Carbon
Being a product of forests, we must look at the role of forests in the carbon balance. Trees absorb carbon dioxide while they stand in nature but release more when they are destroyed.7
Learn more: Recycling Vs. Upcycling: What Is the Difference?
Emissions from Energy Consumption
The manufacturing process of paper also contributes to global carbon emissions due to the consumption of water, energy and electricity during manufacturing.8
Conclusion
Notebook paper is one material that you can easily recycle over and over again. The importance of notebooks in modern society is building up more waste, which in turn impacts the environment.
Recycling paper is a sustainable alternative to preserve natural sources and reduce paper waste littering landfills. Recycling is cleaning up the environment and reducing the effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
Sources
- Wikipedia: “Notebook” ↩︎
- Academia: “Case Study on Paper Recycling.” ↩︎
- Business Waste: How to Reduce Paper Waste ↩︎
- Department of Energy & Environmental Protection: As a Matter of Fact… ↩︎
- Paper Ranger: “Creating Notebooks using Waste Paper for Disadvantaged Children.” ↩︎
- Subak, S., Craighill, A. The contribution of the paper cycle to global warming. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 4, 113–136 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009683311366 ↩︎
- Neil MacEachern: “The Environmental Impact of Paper Waste Recycling: A Comparative Study.” ↩︎
- Kunak Air: Environmental impact of the paper industry, from pollution to solution ↩︎
Gabriel Emmanuel is an Environmental Education Consultant with over 3 years of experience in educational content writing. He has a strong background in environmental science and eco-friendly practices gained through relevant work experience, projects, and volunteer work. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and is a certified Environmental Science professional. Mr. Gabriel is passionate about green living and sustainability and enjoys helping readers by simplifying complex environmental issues, promoting practical eco-friendly practices, and inspiring positive change for a more sustainable future.