In the next 15 years, global demand for paper is expected
to grow by half again as industrial countries continue to
raise their already high levels of consumption and developing
countries try to catch up.
The good news is that innovative
ways of satisfying the need for forest products less wastefully
are are also being pursued – from reducing waste in
the forest and in processing, to more efficient use of building
material and expanding paper recycling. Recycling is so
successful that today over one third of the fiber used to
make paper comes from recycled paper.
Paper
Recycling
BAPS Charities has made a firm commitment to promote recycling
of paper in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad,
Surat, Vadodara, and Rajkot in India. The campaign for recycling
paper has attained amazing awareness and success. Today,
at least 13 paper recycling centers collect 120 tons of
paper every month and have so far collected more than 10,000
tons of paper.
Aluminum
Recycling
In addition to paper recycling, BAPS Charities actively engages
in aluminum recycling activities. Solid waste is probably
the most visible form of pollution. Every year, people dispose
of billions of tons of solid garbage. One of the biggest
forms of solid waste is aluminum cans. In Britain, aluminum
cans alone fill 15.4 million full dustbins. The good news
is these cans can be recycled; and they can be recycled
again and again without loss of quality. Up to 95% of the
energy needed to produce new aluminum ore is saved by recycling.
In the UK, organized by BAPS Charities, children
aged 8 to senior citizens of over 80 participated in the
largest aluminum can-collecting effort in the UK by a charitable
organization. Seven million cans were collected from May 1992
to August 1995 in a nationwide recycling campaign launched
in London, Leicester, Manchester, and Cardiff in England
and Wales. Together with the can collecting campaign, 91
tons of aluminum foil was also collected for recycling.
These efforts earned BAPS Charities
volunteers the Green Leaf Award for the Environment and
the Care of Croydon Award in 1995.
