Newspaper Recycling! A Front to Back Review

The best mornings start off with a cup of hot coffee and the daily news. While online news is becoming more popular, newspapers are the most traditional way to stay in-the-know.

Before the internet, newspapers were one of the few ways to get information on what’s going on in the world. Now, we can get our news everywhere — TV, tablets, smartphones, computers, the paper, even your opinionated co-worker. But with all of these options, studies show that print newspapers are still the most popular form of news. In fact, 83% of people who consume the news read it in print or a combination of print and digital (Journalism).

All of these people reading the news in print results in a ton of paper. 3750 tons actually, and that’s just for one run of the Sunday New York Times. According to Recycling-Revolution, if all that day’s newspapers were recycled, 75,000 trees would be saved.

Many people don’t know which parts of the newspaper to recycle and end up throwing the whole thing in the garbage for convenience’s sake. In reality, you can recycle almost everything in the newspaper! This includes newspaper inserts, sale papers, catalogs, etc. However, make sure to throw away the plastic bag your newspaper came in. It is not recyclable.

You should also consider going paperless by receiving your news online – this will save even more trees! The great thing about reading the news online is that you can read multiple articles on the same topic from different sources, getting the full scope of information and varying viewpoints. Online news also eliminates clutter, considering you already have a computer or smartphone within arm’s length.

So, you’ve gulped down your coffee and read the daily news cover to cover. Before anything else, safeguard our natural resources, recycle your newspaper.