thestevestiffler

1. Year paper was invented: 105 A.D. (by Chinese imperial court official Lun Ts’ai).

2. Global comsumption of paper and paperboard in 2005: 368 million tons.

3. Projected consumption in 2021: 579 million tons.

4. Paper consumed per person, per year in the United States: 330 kilograms.

5. Paper consumed per person per year in Western Europe: 200 kgs; Latin America: 50 kgs; China and Asia: 28 kgs.

6. Sheets of paper used each year by the average U.S. office worker: 10, 000.

7. Percent of printed-on office paper discarded within one day of printing: 45%.

8. Municipal waste discarded in the U.S. in 2006: 251 million tons. Percent share accounted for by paper: 34%.

9. Beginning of the U.S. recycled paper industry: 1690.

10. Number of trees saved by one ton of recycled paper: 17.

11. Landfill spaced saved by one ton of recycled paper: 3.3 cubic yards.

Information obtained from January/February 2009 issue of World Watch.