Higher education has long been a place of innovation and creativity, and increasingly, of environmental sustainability. Many colleges have made climate commitments, implemented composting programs, and worked to boost recycling participation on campuses. But one area where many schools fall short is using recycled paper in alumni magazines. Using recycled paper is essential to building demand for recycled materials to displace more resource-intensive virgin paper.
We are pleased to celebrate a step in using better paper at University of Maryland, as they have begun using 10% recycled content on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. It is our hope to see UMD build on its use of 10% recycled content and keep its purchasing preference for responsible papers (recycled and Forest Stewardship Council Certified content) in years to come.
Green America’s One Million Trees campaign urges colleges and universities across the country to begin using recycled content paper for their alumni magazines. If all higher education institutions used readily available recycled paper options, we could save up to one million trees, 90 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and 16,000 tons of solid waste every single year1.
“It’s wonderful to see that the University of Maryland College Park’s Alumni Magazine, TERP Magazine, is pursuing and capitalizing on sustainable printing options,” says Willem Klajbor, Director of UMD’s Student Government Association Sustainability Committee. “While this is just one of many initiatives UMD is undertaking to carry its weight in the sustainability sector, this specific action is one that is shared with and will be observed by the entire Terrapin family.”
If you are affiliated with another university in our campaign and you’d like to see them make the switch, click here to access our One Million Trees map and add your name to those who want alumni magazines to use recycling paper. Simply click on university of your choice on our map, edit the message however you’d prefer, and hit send!
1Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator Version 3.2.1. For more information visit www.papercalculator.org.
