What does white mean to you?
Purity, cleanliness and hygiene?
In the paper industry white paper is achieved by the use of chlorine. This hazardous chemical creates toxic pollution, which translates to mutation, cancer and death. Sound’s very dangerous, doesn’t it?
These are not really words you would think about as your waitress serves you a delicious meal on a clean table covered with white restaurant paper. And you’re right! There is no immediate threat to your health as you dive into that satisfying meal placed on the paper in front of you.
The problem with chlorine is the pollution from the process of making the paper and not the paper once it is made. The real danger lies with the paper industry’s reliance on chlorine –intensive bleaching which places the industry as the worst water polluter in the world. Even waste paper being recycled most likely used chlorine in the process of making the paper the first time round.
Our best option for protecting the environment is to use non-de-inked, un-re-bleached, recycled paper.
Now can someone help me say that in Chinese??
Until I have improved my language skills and resourcefulness to the next level Bravo will trade in the usage of white chlorine bleached paper for a more natural authentic brown paper to take a step towards a greener future.
If it’s non-de-inked, un-re-bleached, recycled paper I don’t know? But al least it’s a step in the right direction and not white.
And as long as the environmentalists are still at odds trying to figure out whether producing recycled paper might be using more energy than virgin paper production, I think I still have some time to try and find non-de-inked, un-re-bleached, recycled paper in Taiwan.
Or better yet; a table that doesn’t need paper at all!
