It is OK to Print Out an E-mail

It has become commonplace to say that not printing an email can "save a tree." But the truth is a little more complicated than that.

More than half the forests in the USA are under private ownership. Many of these forests are under sustainable management that provides jobs and income to the property owners. If the demand for forest products disappears, the economic incentive to maintain the forest disappears with it and forest lands could conceivably be sold for development. The result would be a genuine loss of forests that provide wildlife habitat and protect watersheds and air quality. Today's savvy environmentalists are working with the forest products industry to insure viable forests and sustainable harvesting.


As a result, there are more trees on paper industry forest lands today than there were 70 years ago. Of the 873 million acres that supply commercial forest products, only 2% are harvested each year. Today's responsible companies recognize that forests are a sustainable resource that can supply us with wood and wood products, like paper, indefinitely if they are properly managed. Forest stewardship in America has grown increasing more responsible to environmental concerns. So there is no need to feel guilty over printing something because you want a paper copy. However, if you fail to recycle paper when you are through using it, go ahead and feel guilty! 

The Metafore Fiber Cycle Project provides a wealth of information about forests in North America.

Is it Time to End Saturday Mail Delivery?

It is no secret that the Postal Service has been hard hit by the precipitous decline in mail volume. From  a peak of 213 billion pieces of mail in 2006, mail volume has declined to a projected 167 billion pieces for 2010, and is expected to level off at about 150 billion beyond this year. That represents a nearly 30% decline in revenue. The Postal Service has been scrambling to find places to cut to make up the shortfall. Post Offices have been closed and some 300, 000 "under performing" mail drop boxes have been eliminated. A slew of new mailing specifications have been put into place to further automate bulk mail.  But approximately 80% of costs for the Postal Service is in employee pay and benefits. Short of reductions in work hours, there is no way to achieve savings that will make up for the shortfall. Eliminating Saturday delivery is estimated to save the postal service over $3 billion.  

The Postal Service has requested that they be allowed to discontinue Saturday service, and have been working on operational changes that will have to be made if and when that happens. So far, Congress and the Obama administration have been reluctant to allow the change. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, says that Saturday delivery gives U.S. businesses a competitive advantage. Cutting Saturday delivery on the day before Mother's Day or Christmas, he says, is "Probably not a good idea."  Chaffetz suggests adding 12 more non-delivery holidays to the postal calendar, whether they fall on Saturday or not.

Clearly, the Postal Service is important to the economy of this country. Printed communications have unique value that is not matched by email which can be easily lost, ignored, or deleted in the surge of electronic data we are subjected to every day. And with today's reduced mail volume, mailed communications get more attention than ever before. But does that mean we should require mail delivery on Saturday, and at what cost? Polls suggest that most Americans do not object to elimination of Saturday mail. What do you think?