Around 410 million tons of paper and cardboard are produced and consumed worldwide each year. The per capita consumption in Austria is around 218 kilos per year – that is approx. 4.2 kilos a week. This amount is about four times the global average (56.5 kilos). In the USA the consumption is 219 kilos, the European average is158 kilos and in Africa it is only 7.7 kilos per capita. Austria is thus one of the frontrunners in paper consumption, the EU and the US together consume around 37% of the world’s paper production.
Forests are not only the “lungs of the world” (they bind CO2 and release oxygen) and home to two thirds of all animal and plant species, they are also pollutant filters, regulate the water balance and stabilize the earth’s climate. The paper industry is the world’s fifth largest energy consumer, which needs more water than any other industry and threatens the livelihood of people and animals with its hunger for resources. 20 football fields disappear every minute and 40% of industrial forestry goes to the paper industry.
In recent years the smartphone has become a loyal companion in everyday life with increasing functionality. By 2014 most people in the industrialised world had a smartphone with the ability to download data depending on their needs. Since then print media have become obsolete in their use, because the fast-paced world of today is in need of a medium that transfers information worldwide within seconds and this information can be updated at any given moment. A mobile application, which makes use of the internet, is a powerful medium that can be used to transfer information instantaneously and it is also a viable antidote to deforestation for paper production.
Sources:
https://www.umweltberatung.at/papierverbrauch-steigt-weiter-an
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/483406/umfrage/kohlendioxid-emissionen-bei-der-herstellung-von-papier-und-pappe-in-deutschland/
https://www.kartenmacherei.de/digitalisierung-in-der-familie/#kinder
