Almost everyday I see a new commercials saying “No more plastic, we switched to paper [straws/bags/whatever]!” I understand that it’s good to not use plastic, but won’t this contribute to cutting down more trees and hurt our environment as well?
In: Earth Science
Trees regrow fairly quickly, particularly the types that are farmed for commercial use in the US.
Arguably increase forestry product use is good, or at least neutral, for the environment as it requires a larger area of forest to be planted to keep up with the demand and the increased demand keeps forestry land more economically viable.
While the land is producing its mostly left alone and provides habitat, albeit not quite as good as old growth forests.
If the land can’t be profitably used for forestry it’ll get turned over to a use it is profitable for – often stuff like farming or housing, which both wipe out the forest habitat entirely.
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