Recycle Paper to protect your children's future

By Laila Faisal

JAKARTA (JP): We take paper for granted every day of the week. When we need paper it can be almost guaranteed that a sheet or two can be found on the desk, in the drawers or in your bag. We throw away paper without a second thought if we make a typing error or spelling mistake, but nobody realizes the amount of paper wasted every day.

Twenty years ago, the United States consumed more than 530 pounds of paper per capita per year. Now each individual uses on average 800 pounds of paper on an annual basis. A large amount of the paper used ends up in landfill sites. It should be noted that population has also increased over the last 20 years.

Studies into paper consumption have not yet been conducted in Indonesia, but it would be safe to say that in the cities, Indonesians use about half as much in American.

About 95 percent of the paper we use is made from wood pulp. Other common plants used throughout the world to manufacture paper are cotton, flax, hemp, bamboo and sugar cane bagasse, a residual product of the sugar-making process.

The number of people using paper has increased and the amount of paper used by each person has also increased, placing a heavy burden on the forests which supply the majority of raw materials to manufacture paper. It cannot be stated with certainty how long forests will be able to sustain the supply of wood for pulping before becoming exhausted. Producing paper is not the sole and exclusive purpose of forests, which also face pressure from other commercial interests. Will the day come when our children's children only know forests from their history books?

There are a number of things which can be done to reduce paper consumption and alleviate pressure on the world's forests. First, we can start by not using paper so extravagantly. Double check your work on the computer screen before printing it. If you print work containing mistakes, save the paper so that you can use the blank side for printing draft copies of work. Then, after both sides of the paper have been used, try to recycle it instead of throwing it away.

The process of recycling paper was used hundreds of years ago in the Western world. In those days, each sheet of paper was made individually on a screen dipped into a vat of water-suspended fibers. To recycle paper, wood pulp fibers in the vat were replaced with fibers from used paper.

Almost any kind of paper can be recycled provided it has not been densely printed on. For this reason, it is advisable to avoid recycling newspaper.

Recycled paper does not look exactly like paper made from wood pulp, but it is very acceptable, unless high quality paper is desired.

The color and texture of recycled paper is contingent on the type of paper from which it has been manufactured. Recycling photocopy paper results in a blue tinged paper, for example.

Before recycling, the used paper should be grouped by basic color, but it is also possible to mix and match colors, depending on taste. Experiment to find the most pleasing result!

Paper can be recycled using a mixture of everyday household goods and some specialized equipment.

The hardware required is as follows: A blender; a printing screen, which can purchased in chemical supply and paper supply stores; water absorbent cloth; two pieces of wood board or multiplex; two G-clamps, which can be purchased from hardware and building supply stores; and a large tub or vat.

Aside from that, all that is needed is plenty of used paper and lots of water.

First, tear up the used paper into small pieces of about a square inch and soak them overnight in water. The next day, fill the blender three-quarters full with clean water, add a handful of soaked paper and blend it until it is a smooth consistency. This is the pulp.

Fill the large tub with more clean water, pour the pulp in and stir the mixture to distribute the pulp evenly in the water.

Then, hold the screen with the frame placed on top and dip it in the tub at an angle until it is fully immersed. Move the screen back and forth to distribute the pulp is evenly then gently lift the screen out of the water, holding it above the tub until most of the water drains out.

Place a piece of cloth over the pulp mixture on the screen, then turn the frame upside down on a flat surface. The pulp should fall smoothly from the frame along with the cloth. Place the cloth and pulp on one of the wooden boards and repeat the process until the pulp is finished, stacking each new cloth on top of the wooden board.

Place a further piece of cloth on the last layer, cover the stack with the second wooden board, then press the boards together using the G-clamps. This will help the remaining water to drain out -- the sheets should be pressed in this way for at least an hour before the clamps are removed.

Then, either let the sheets dry before peeling of the backing cloths, or remove the cloths while the paper is still damp and hang the sheets on the washing line.

When the sheets of recycled paper are dry, trim them to the desired shape and size, and the paper is ready to use.

So start recycling paper today, and save a tree for your children to cherish in the future.