The paper invention as we know it today is attributed to the Chinese royal court, in A.D. 105. In an era where the only way books were available was through the silk scrolls, paper solved an imminent problem with the development of calligraphy and the animal hair - brush. This method was cheaper than silk, and it was made from rags, used fishing nets, hemp and China grass. Six hundred years later, the Arabs got papermaking as one of the spoils of war. “The Central Asia city of Samarkand was fighting the Chinese and captured a number of prisoners, two of whom were papermakers who were released in exchange for teaching the Arabs how to make paper. The Arabs wasted no time in improving papermaking techniques �

There are two important factors that have influenced the recycling movement. One is the legal issue and the other is the landfill crisis. “In California there are no State laws directly affecting ‘recovered paper’, although there are a number of laws affecting the purchase of ‘recycled paper’. All but one of the recycled paper purchasing laws affect purchasing by State and local governments only. The one law affecting purchasing in the private sector is the ‘recycled-content newsprint law’, which requires California commercial printers and publishers to ensure that specified percentages of the newsprint they use is recycled-content newsprint” (CIWMB 1). The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) developed a market development plan in 1992 and updated it in 1996 to identify activities that would assist local government and the private sector in a 50% waste reduction that each jurisdiction sends to landfills in 2000. We have yet to achieve this goal and it’s the year 2003. “California is faced with the challenge of managing nearly 14 million TONS of post-consumer paper generated annually in the State” (CIWMB1). With the rate of recovered paper circling around 31% to 34%, the other approximate 9.5 million tons is disposed in landfills (CIWMB 1). Recycling alone will not reduce the amount sent to landfill as California’s paper generation continues to increase. People have to make a conscious decision to act for paper waste prevention. It could be as small as using both sides of the paper when photocopying. The down side is that CIWMB tells us that even if all paper was recycled, there would still be a need for virgin paper sources, as individual paper fibers can only be recycled 5 to 10 times. “Paper waste prevention reduces the environmental impacts associated with both paper manufacture (including the demands on

Some topics in this essay:
State” CIWMB1, Action Network, Conserve Tree, Industrial Revolution, East Europe, Board CIWMB, Central Asia, Republic Panama, Department Agriculture, Nebel Wright, tree-free papers, waste prevention, paper industry, paper recycled, private sector, kinsella 1, paper wood, paper trees, ciwmb 1,