# How MANY Trees Would We SAVE, If:

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 25, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167 "2004-02-25T20:21:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167/1 "2004-02-25T20:21:09Z")

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Everybodt used BOTH sides of a pieceof paper? I’ve been doing this foryears…instead of throwing printed sheets out, I turn them over and recycle them! Simple, isn’t it? I’m sure the paper companies don’t like this! But, can anyone estimate how many trees we could save if everybody reduced their paper consumption by 50%?  
Let’s not get into recycling toilet paper! 🆒

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**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167/2 "2004-02-25T20:30:42Z")

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Probably like .0001% since most trees are harvested for lumber and fuel, not paper.

But it’s the thought that counts.

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**Author:** ![yoyo3500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5daacb/32.png) [@yoyo3500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyo3500)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167/3 "2004-02-25T21:12:39Z")

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Personally, I say lets get rid of all the trees! Think of how many skiers we’d save! And the kites that wouldn’t get torn! And the firemen wouldn’t get so many calls about kittens stuck in trees! Trees are flammable fire hazards! If not for that cherry tree, George Washington never would have gotten blamed for cutting it down! There are so many reasons to get rid of the trees! Without trees, we wouldn’t get any more wood splinters!..

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**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167/4 "2004-02-25T22:29:38Z")

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**Ghanima** ’s being generous. Not only are most trees harvested for non-paper uses, but most trees that are harvested are grown simply to be harvested (like crops on a farm). It’s simply not the case for the most part that the big bad lumber companies walk into some pristin forest somewhere and start swinging axes, the environment be damned.

So, your idea could actually cause fewer trees to be planted because the demand for trees would go down.

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**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trees-would-we-save-if/231167/5 "2004-02-25T23:39:46Z")

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Sorry to hijack this thread, but **TaxGuy** , I have to ask, do you get a lot of flak for your name? Seems like it wouldn’t make you too popular…just a thought.