M25 - Unbleached Paper Use
The chlorine-free paper has not been bleached with chlorine, a substance generally used to whiten paper and many other applications. The use of this bleaching agent by paper mills results in surrounding land being contaminated with dioxin and other organochlorides such as lead, mercury, and phenols. Used in an open environment, these substances are released into the open atmosphere. Concentrates are 25 million times above the human exposure tolerance. The substances are bio-accumulated and passed on to our food chain, to fish, fish-eating birds, and mammals including humans. Passed on to children before birth, these chemicals cause defects, reproductive abnormalities, learning deficits, and cancer to name a few.
Non-chlorine bleached paper is widely available in various shapes and colors and also in white, although the natural brown look is good advertising if you use unbleached products and your environmental considerations will be apparent to your clients and visitors! Bleached white paper and cardboard are also available on the market, where other more environmentally friendly processes are employed. Requesting a guarantee of the origin, and proof of unbleached or sustainably bleached paper is crucial to secure your symbol. PCF stands for Processed Chlorine-free and TFC stands for totally chlorine-free, this paper is widely available everywhere. Virgin pulp is used to add on a recycled whiteboard and the new pulp added is unbleached. You can also ask for kenaf-based paper. Kenaf is a plant related to cotton and okra, a non-wood fiber used to extract pulp for paper production. Kenaf paper is now available from several commercial retailers and wholesalers. Kenaf can be easily pulped and bleached with harmless chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide.
Implementing this symbol means helping to avoid dioxins and other poisonous organochlorides entering the ecology. Kenaf grows 10 to 15 times faster than pine to obtain the same amount of pulp.
SCROLL TABLE
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| Note | Times/Hours/Amount Used | Days Per Week Used | Days Used in One Year | Consumption of Resource | Total Use of Resource | Cost of Resource Per Unit | Total Resource Cost in One Year | Estimated Implementation Cost | Estimated Savings in Five Years | Estimate Pay Off Time |
| Without Implementation | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Dioxine | - |
| With Implementation | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||