Save a Forest: Print Your Emails

Save a Forest: Print Your Emails | AEIdeas

"I’ve featured this before on CD, but it’s so good I thought it was time to post it again:

In response to the ubiquitous email taglines inspired by a sincere, but possibly misguided attempt to help save the planet like: “Please consider the environment before printing – Save trees, save paper” and “Be green, keep it on the screen,” tree farmer and keyboard player (Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones) Chuck Leavell uses this email tagline:

Notice: It’s OK to print this email. Paper is a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees. Growing and harvesting trees provides jobs for millions of Americans. Working forests are good for the environment and provide clean air and water, wildlife habitat and carbon storage. Thanks to improved forest management, we have more trees in America today than we had 100 years ago.

That tagline was featured in Chuck’s Wall Street Journal op-ed in March 2011 (co-authored with Carlton Owen, forester, wildlife biologist and CEO of U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities), where they concluded that “We don’t advocate wanton waste of paper or any other material, but avoiding the print option does absolutely nothing to save the planet or forests. Honest, it’s okay to print. Trees are renewable, recyclable and sustainable.”