While fuel management and conservation is (or at least should be) on everyone’s mind, many portions of the imported paper industry seem to be making little effort to conserve resources and protect our environment.

For example, it is well known that the Chinese paper producers simply cannot produce enough pulp to feed its paper manufacturing system. Its factories import supplemental wood and scrap paper from as far away as the United States, and then ship completed products back across the ocean. The distance from Los Angeles to Shanghai by sea is 6,438 miles, and 6,945 miles from New York to the western border of China. This means that the fiber in a lot of imported paper products has traveled as much as 12-14,000 miles in their production life cycle before being sent by land to you.

The impact of transportation on climate change is no secret. While speed, size, and engine type affect the actual rate of oil consumption, even the most fuel-effective ships contribute to the staggering 2.1 billion barrels of oil the world’s 90,000 cargo ships burn through each year. According to the N.Y. Times, with 90% of global trade of goods being moved over the seas, the high-sulfur diesel fuel used by most ships accounts for about 4.5% of the global production of carbon dioxide and 20% of sulfur dioxide.

CNN reports that, until recently, shipping was considered a relatively minor player in greenhouse gas emissions. Last October however, a report by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners revealed that the shipping industry’s emissions could be as high as double the carbon footprint of the aviation industry.

If this report is right, the shipping industry (which serves the foreign paper industry) is responsible for generating as much as 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases a year. According to Earth Justice there are only six countries with greater carbon dioxide emissions than the shipping industry: the U.S., Japan, Germany, Russia, India and China.

It’s not easy to track the miles your paper products have actually traveled and staying informed is more critical than ever. We’ve developed an “ISSUES” series to keep you current with the risks of imported paper.

Click on the red folder icons on the left of the screen to learn more. Bookmark this page and stay tuned as we add more information. And, please, educate your clients and colleagues. Tell them about the risks posed by paper from unverifiable chains of supply. Send them a link to our site and we’ll get this dialog going.

In the meantime, please feel free to share your story by sending comments to contact@papertellsastory.com.