Take Action

ESSC Memo

March 31, 2008

The Mount campus uses approximately 800 reams of paper each month, for a total of more than 13,000 sheets per day or 4.8 million sheets annually at an expense of more than $30,000. Given that it takes at least 12 trees to create a ton of paper (www.conservatree.com), the Mount collectively uses more than 288 trees worth of paper annually.

I am happy to report that, through the work of the ESSC and the VP for Business and Finance, Mount St. Mary’s is now purchasing paper made from 30% recycled content. This shift in purchasing will mean that 86 fewer trees will need to be harvested and is expected to save the University more than $3000 per year (11% reduction in cost).

What is more, the remaining 70% of the paper content comes from fiber that meets the sourcing requirements of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (www.sfiprogram.org).

“The Sustainable Forestry Initiative^® (SFI) program is based on the premise that responsible environmental behavior and sound business decisions can co-exist.

SFI program participants practice sustainable forestry on all the lands they manage. They also influence millions of additional acres through the training of loggers and foresters in best management practices and landowner outreach programs.

This unique commitment to sustainable forestry recognizes that all forest landowners, not just SFI program participants, play a critical role in ensuring the long-term health and sustainability of our forests.”

Please do your part to conserve our natural resources. Only print documents when necessary and, when possible, reuse paper by printing on the opposite side.

On behalf of the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Committee, I thank you for your efforts to help the Mount live up to its moral obligation to be a responsible steward of our natural world. For questions regarding this program, please contact sustainability@msmary.edu.

Brian G. Henning, Ph.D.

Chair, ESSC