National Public Health Week CALL TO ACTION!

It is National Public Health Week, and this year the emphasis is on global climate change.

HPMA is challenging you take time this week to take a few EASY steps to decrease the amount of junk mail you receive, which can ultimately lower your “carbon footprint.”

WHAT CAN I DO?
• Go to www.proquo.com or www.catalogchoice.org and follow the easy instructions to remove your name/address from mailing lists!
• If there are catalogs or coupons you would still like to receive, sign up for e-mails from those stores instead of getting paper copies.

WHY SHOULD I DO IT?
• According to the National Resources Defense Council, more than 19 billion
catalogs are published in the U.S. each year. It takes about 53 million
trees to make all that paper.
• These trees not only provide wildlife habitat, they take carbon dioxide
out of the air. But the environmental impact goes well beyond that because
catalog production and distribution create greenhouse gases, about 5
million tons of carbon monoxide each year according to the NRDC. That’s
equal to the tailpipe emissions from 2 million cars.
• Yes, catalogs can be recycled, although not everyone does that. But
reducing the amount of unwanted catalogs printed and mailed in the first
place would have a significantly greater environmental impact.
(MSNBC.com, Federal Reserve Board
• Still, the paper industry is not without its impact. Because of its
consumption of energy, the industry — which includes magazines,
newspapers, catalogs and writing paper — emits the fourth-highest level of
carbon dioxide among manufacturers, according to a 2002 study by the
Energy Information Administration, a division of the Department of Energy.
(nytimes.com)
• The life of a magazine or a newspaper starts with trees being cut down in
a forest and ends with the burning or recycling of old magazines or
papers. The most harmful part of the process is paper production. Breaking
down wood fiber to make paper consumes a lot of energy, which in many
cases comes from coal plants. (nytimes.com)

If you have any thoughts or remarks, feel free to post a comment!