By Elizabeth Mc Keown

The atmosphere is tense, every student in the room is desperately scanning their notes and asking their classmates last minute questions. The blue books and question packets appear and silence fills the room. You’re left with only one question as you stare at the exam: why aren’t we using recycled paper?! Whereas many people would dismiss this thought and continue on to the remained of the exam, a small group of us at E3, Wesleyan’s environmental group, can’t stop thinking about this misuse of paper. 

Wesleyan is a haven for the earth-conscious. We glorify the vegetarian and praise the tree-hugger, yet here on campus we also routinely rely on paper garnered from paper industries that contributes to deforestation and pollution. There are a myriad of paper source alternatives that are a hundred times more earth friendly such as agricultural waste, hemp, keraf, recycled wood or plastic composites, and (our good friend) recycled paper. It seems strange that we should continue to support this unnecessary deforestation. 

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is encouraging college campuses to rise up against paper injustices. College campuses are a good  place to start an environmental action since they are small enough to make such an action feasible and yet large and prestigious enough to attract attention. This tree-saving campaign, based partially on boycotts against Boise-Cascade, a paper corporation renowned for its clear-cutting and pollution techniques, is spreading around the nation. The message is to reduce the waste of trees and increase awareness of more earth friendly paper production methods and the companies that utilize them. We should have been among the first campuses to heed the call to arms to start spreading awareness of
ecological paper industries, but it’s not too late to join. 

You may begin to notice a change on campus, trees becoming marked with ribbons or signs. These trees represent the trees necessary to make the wood pulp that Wesleyan University
uses to create the paper it uses each day. Although we don’t know the outcome of the week yet, those of us involved with the Tree-Free campaign believe it will be astonishing. Picture our lovely Foss Hill trees that give us cool comfort in the summer, protection from the spring rain, and beauty all year long. Then picture them squished into pulp by a factory spouting clouds of black smoke into the air over Middletown. Then help us promote alternative paper sources. If you’re interested in learning more, visit the Rainforest Action Network website at www.ran.org or email Lisa Bergmann at lbergmann@wesleyan.edu, leader of Wesleyan’s Tree Free campaign. 
 

McKeown is a member of the class of 2004.