Ten per cent of 200 million – Too few exercise books are made from recycled paper

For parents and children, preparing for the new school year means buying school supplies. Around 200 million exercise books are purchased each year in Germany alone. This is a huge amount of paper, yet only one in every ten exercise books is made from recycled paper. Find out why this proportion ought to be bigger and how to tell which products are environmentally friendly in a report by Diana Schade.

Listen to the report here (mp3 format, 3,48 MB).

200 million exercise books are bought every year. In light of this huge quantity, does it actually make any difference whether an individual opts for recycled paper?

Ingo Strube: Absolutely, each and every individual counts. Using recycled paper makes an important contribution to counteracting the loss of biodiversity and climate change. A further benefit is that up to 80 per cent water and 70 per cent energy is saved during the manufacture of recycled paper compared to fresh-fibre paper.

...says Ingo Strube from the Federal Ministry for the Environment. Anyone who looks a little more closely when shopping will soon discover which products protect the environment. An indicator: the Blue Angel ecolabel.

Ingo Strube: It is intended to be a compass for everyday life – and it makes decisions easier. The ecolabel provides a reliable guide for eco-friendly shopping. A further advantage that is also important when it comes to school supplies: any substances that could pose a risk to health are also scrutinised when the Blue Angel is awarded.

The well-known ecolabel has already existed for 45 years.

Ingo Strube: Over 30,000 environmentally friendly products and services from over 1,600 companies have already been awarded with the Blue Angel. These include, for example, paints, furniture, detergents and cleaning agents – and even exercise books made from recycled paper.