ORIGANAMI
Why Sustainable Packaging Matters
It Is Estimated That 3.5 To 7 Billion Trees Are Cut Down Every Year... That Is About 15 Million Trees A Day...
Forests cover about 30 percent of the planet's land mass, but humans are
cutting them down, clearing these essential habitats on a massive scale.
As the world seeks to slow the pace of climate change, preserve wildlife, and support billions of people, trees inevitably hold a major part of the answer.
Between 1990 and 2016, the world lost 502,000 square miles (1.3 million square kilometers) of forest, according to the World Bank—an area larger than South Africa. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise.
We need trees for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they absorb not only the carbon dioxide that we exhale, but also the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. As those gases enter the atmosphere, global warming, or climate change, increases. Tropical tree cover alone can provide almost 25% support to meet climate change mitigation goals.
Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, drilling and logging for building materials and paper products are the major contributors to the deforestation problem. Forest fires and urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil, which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltines. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms are key culprits.
Deforestation affects the people and animals where trees are cut, as well as the wider world. Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and deforestation threatens those species.
Removing trees destabilizes the land promoting erosion, dustbowls and landslides. The disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to humans, plants and animals. Overall warming global temperatures affects the earth's poles and oceans, and the humans that depend on them for food and livelihood, from polar bear to fisherman.
In the United States, for example, deforestation in the Northeast, coupled with suburban sprawl, has reduced predation. Habitats diminish, the densities of deer and other prey species increase. The checks and balances have been removed. As more deer inhabit smaller areas, they become more susceptible to Lyme disease. As they now must share their habitat with humans, the decease is more easily passed onto humans.
Additionally, many experts now believe that the surge in new infectious diseases, such as AIDS, Ebola and Covid-19, is being driven in part by some of humanity’s most environmentally destructive practices, such as deforestation and poaching, leading to increased contact between highly mobile, urbanized human populations and wild animals.
Forests influence regional and global water cycles. Just as our Red Woods and other forests are key to our climate in the US. the same is said for forests around the world. Forests are an imperative part of the engine that effects weather, helping furnish water to farmers and ranchers domestically and world wide. The loss of clean water and biodiversity from all forests could have many other effects we can’t foresee, touching even your morning cup of coffee.
Some may debate on how much we as humans are affecting climate change versus the natural warming of the earth, but it does not change what is occurring. We all know we need resources to live and develop. We know forests have a direct impact on the climate and environment. We know we are using those resources at a very high rate. It is more important than ever before to source and use these resources responsibly and sustainably.
Origanami only uses FSC Certified post consumer materials and paper products sourced from sustainably managed forests.
And when you get a chance, plant some trees! It's good for you and it's good for the planet!