The text of the letter is below. It was issued to the Cambridge News & Crier newspaper on 11th February 2010.
OPEN LETTER TO CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL
Dear Councillors
I am writing concerning the recent news that you are considering buying 42 Apple iPads in a move to reduce paper-use and be more environmentally-friendly. My organisation, Two Sides is concerned that the link you make between reducing the use of paper and helping the environment creates a false impression about the sustainability of print and paper.
Paper is a renewable and recyclable product that, if responsibly produced and consumed, is an environmentally sustainable media. In Europe, where 93 per cent of our paper comes from, the area of forest has grown by 30 per cent since 1950 and is increasing at a rate of 1.5 million football pitches every year. The forestry and paper industries are major guardians of this precious and growing resource.
The belief that e-communication is more environmentally-friendly than print is generally unproven and there is a lack of life cycle data to support such claims. What is increasingly clear is that electronic communication, and in particular the energy requirements of the increasing worldwide network of servers which are necessary to store all the information needed for immediate access, has a significant and increasing carbon footprint. Electronic communication and document storage must be recognised as delivering efficiency but not necessarily greater sustainability. In the UK it has been suggested that PCs and servers may consume up to 50 per cent of the country's energy requirements in the next 10 years.
Whilst the efficiency of electronic communication is clear and initiatives to reduce waste are to be encouraged Two Sides is concerned that incorrect and damaging impressions are being given if initiatives such as yours are promoted as 'green' or seek to gain credibility by purporting to aid sustainability at the expense of the paper industry.
If you choose to spend money on Apple iPads, that is your prerogative, but I would be grateful if you would reconsider your message that you are doing so because using an iPad is more environmentally friendly than traditional paper and ensure that you do not damage the Print and Paper industry, and jeopardise the livelihood of the many thousands of people employed therein with possibly misleading statements.
With thanks for your consideration.
With kind regards
Martyn Eustace, Director
Two Sides, Stonecroft, Hellidon, NN11 6GB, UK
t: 07834 761072, e: mje@twosides.info w: www.twosides.info
