Recycling paper is not difficult to do and provides various benefits, however, most of us still do not do it often enough - if at all. What follows is a review of some of the benefits on offer. After reading through them, hopefully you will be more aware of the importance of recycling at least some of the paper that you use.

- Forests, and the wildlife that live within them, are destroyed as a result of our excessive use of paper. Put simply, the less paper we recycle, the less trees we need to cut down. As well as the effect on wildlife and plant-life, excessive deforestation also creates visual scars on our beautiful planet. Once a forest has been cut down, there is little to no chance of that land ever being home to an ecosystem again.

- Lots of items that we use on an almost daily basis, such as newspapers, envelopes, cardboard boxes, paper towels and toilet rolls are as good when they are made from recycled paper as they are when they are made from ‘new’ paper. However, there is not enough recycled paper available to make such items solely from recycled paper because we are not recycling enough. Each time you take newspapers, envelopes, cardboard boxes, etc. to a recycling point after you have used them they can be turned into new items.

- Recycled paper has cost benefits as it is made from materials that would otherwise constitute the solid waste that is polluting our environment. By infusing this material into the paper manufacturing process, and getting rid of the costs associated with ‘virgin’ pulp and whitening agents, companies can achieve cost savings by both producing and consuming recycled materials

- Used paper based products that are not recycled have to be got rid of in other ways, namely either in landfill sites or at incineration plants. Landfill sites are both an eyesore and a problem for the environment. Why waste space in landfill sites with paper when there is a better solution - recycling. As for incinerating waste paper, doing so pumps harmful toxins into the atmosphere.

- Recycling paper means water consumption is reduced (1 ton of recycled paper can save over 6500 gallons of water) and less electricity is used (more than 400 kilowatt hours are saved by recycling 1 ton of paper). It also helps reduces our dependence on oil. Saving 2 barrels per ton of recycled paper really makes a difference in the long term.