Comments on: Junk Mail - just how “heavy” a problem is it? http://www.fippy.net/blog/archives/2006/02/junk-mail-just-how-heavy-a-problem-is-it/ Ramblings of a little Blue Gnoll Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:19:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Junk Mail - just how “heavy” a problem is it? by: Fippy http://www.fippy.net/blog/archives/2006/02/junk-mail-just-how-heavy-a-problem-is-it/#comment-12 Thu, 23 Feb 2006 05:08:21 +0000 http://www.fippy.net/blog/archives/2006/02/junk-mail-just-how-heavy-a-problem-is-it/#comment-12 Wow! That was some scarey research Joel. Thanks for that. This is a serious problem that I am very surprised no one is bringing to the nation's attention. Animal charities are everywhere but where are the tree-hugger ones? As a society we really need to rethink the way we market our products and services. Junk mail, whether material or electronic is far too primitive. Wow! That was some scarey research Joel. Thanks for that. This is a serious problem that I am very surprised no one is bringing to the nation’s attention. Animal charities are everywhere but where are the tree-hugger ones? As a society we really need to rethink the way we market our products and services. Junk mail, whether material or electronic is far too primitive.

]]> Comment on Junk Mail - just how “heavy” a problem is it? by: Joel Jennings http://www.fippy.net/blog/archives/2006/02/junk-mail-just-how-heavy-a-problem-is-it/#comment-11 Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:15:56 +0000 http://www.fippy.net/blog/archives/2006/02/junk-mail-just-how-heavy-a-problem-is-it/#comment-11 This is what conservatree.com says "based on a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods 40 feet tall and 6-8 inches in diameter, it would take a rough average of 24 trees to produce a ton of printing and writing paper." So...according your findings...9 million tons of junk mail a year, respresents about 216 million trees used just for junk mail. Yikes! According to the USFS, a very dense, mature (20 years - 8 inch diameter - 58 feet tall) pine plantation in the southeast has a density of 520 trees/acre. So...(216 million trees)/(520 trees/acre) = (roughly) 415,385 acres. Double yikes!! The state of Rhode Island consists of approximately 668,800 acres (1045 square miles); every year we cut down about 2/3 the state of Rhode Island in trees just for junk mail? Triple yikes!!! (This is an extremely rough estimate based on a VERY dense tree plantation. The *real* number of acres is likely higher. Also, some of this mail likely contains some % of "post-consumer fibers" i.e. recycled paper. Whatever percent that is (30 maybe?) we can reduce the final number by that amount. Still...yikes.) This is what conservatree.com says “based on a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods 40 feet tall and 6-8 inches in diameter, it would take a rough average of 24 trees to produce a ton of printing and writing paper.” So…according your findings…9 million tons of junk mail a year, respresents about 216 million trees used just for junk mail. Yikes! According to the USFS, a very dense, mature (20 years - 8 inch diameter - 58 feet tall) pine plantation in the southeast has a density of 520 trees/acre. So…(216 million trees)/(520 trees/acre) = (roughly) 415,385 acres. Double yikes!! The state of Rhode Island consists of approximately 668,800 acres (1045 square miles); every year we cut down about 2/3 the state of Rhode Island in trees just for junk mail? Triple yikes!!!

(This is an extremely rough estimate based on a VERY dense tree plantation. The *real* number of acres is likely higher. Also, some of this mail likely contains some % of “post-consumer fibers” i.e. recycled paper. Whatever percent that is (30 maybe?) we can reduce the final number by that amount. Still…yikes.)

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