Paper in Our Lives

Each person in the United States consumes approximately 675 pounds of paper a year. Where does it all go? You might be surprised at some of the answers...

Printing, Media, and Entertainment

We read over 350 million magazines, 2 billion books, and 24 billion newspapers a year - all printed on paper. Our children play with paper dolls, paper masks, paper board games, and paper kites. Your ticket to a movie is made out of paper, and so are the containers and carry-out trays for your popcorn and drinks. Even the batteries in your TV remote control contain paper, and so does your television itself.

At Work and School

Most of us expect to find paper in schools and businesses; our desks are usually covered with it. Thanks to computers, which were once expected to make ours a paperless society, we now generate even more paper than ever before. And our money, checks, stock certificates, deeds of ownership, birth certificates and marriage licenses, all the documents which govern our lives, are made out of paper.

Packaging

How would you ship light bulbs, water glasses, or your new microwave oven without the corrugated containers that protect them? The largest category of paper products today is the one we take most for granted - paperboard. Corrugated board is used to ship 95% of all manufactured goods (even paper itself!) and is much lighter and more recyclable than the wooden crates of yesteryear.

Frozen orange juice - the cornerstone of the American breakfast - would be less convenient without the composite foil-lined can. And where would your breakfast be without cereal boxes, coffee filters, or egg and milk cartons? Even sausage casings contain paper! In some cases your coffee cake is baked, sold, reheated, and served in its original paperboard box.

Construction

We use paper to build our homes. Sometimes it serves as a structural or decorative component, as in laminated kitchen counter tops, insulation, gypsum board, acoustical board, wallpaper, flooring, and shingles. Paper is the backing material for masking tape, sandpaper, and electrical cable wrap. And when shelter is needed in an emergency, we can make a whole house out of paperboard.

Paper - the Essential Material

As you can see, paper has evolved over the years from just a writing surface to a material that touches nearly every aspect of our lives. Although we frequently take it for granted, it's hard to imagine what our lives might be like without it.

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