The History and Impact of Paper (4)

Paper is one of the most important components of communication in our day to day lives. Despite living in a digital world, many still come in contact with paper communication every day. From printing resume's to paper flyers, paper is a crucial source of communicating. 

Before we had paper, humans communicated through symbols and drawings. These would be carved and painted anywhere from cave walls to tree bark. The most similar medium to paper used were clay tablets. Thinking of the creation of clay and paper, both use water mixed with another medium. This could explain how the idea of mixing water with another material and drying to make paper began.

Roughly two-thousand years ago, Chinese inventors began crafting cloth sheets to record writings. This invention began to create paper as we know it today. Paper was first made by Cai Lun (pictured to the right) in Lei-Yang. It is presumed that Lun crafted paper from tree bark, hemp, rags, and water. All materials were mashed to pulp and dried. 

During the 8th century, the invention of paper traveled to the Middle East. It took another five-hundred years for paper to reach Europe. The first European paper mill was build in Spain, influencing a take-off for paper production and mills across Europe. Moving into the 15th century, Europe began distributing paper to its colonies. 

In 1690, the first U.S. paper mill was build in Pennsylvania. Originally, we used the "Chinese method", consisting of rags as a main resource. As demand grew, we switched to tree fibers due to its cost effectiveness. We still continue to use this method today, while additionally using recycled paper. 

The introduction of paper furthered our early communication. From newspapers to written letters, paper influenced a newfound widespread communication. Additionally, communication could continue long-distance, allowing for more people to share ideas and communicate with one another. Without paper, many other communication sources would not be possible, such as newspaper. In our digital age, we have transitioned to "digital paper" applications such as google docs, email, or note-taking apps (ex. Goodnotes). Many of these applications hold the same design as physical paper, but are digitally encoded and saved for convince.

While this early communication development is important, then and now, it unfortunately impacts us negatively. The paper industry is one of the largest in the world, and contributes to pollution in our air and water sources. Negative impact can even be traced directly to the root of paper production. Between illegal tree harvesting and a lack of re-planting, the paper industry is also ruining our forests and contributing to habitat destruction. 

The production of paper requires a lot of water, resulting in water pollution in surrounding bodies of water. This damages aquatic ecosystems and threatens the health of nearby communities. Additionally, pollutants released into the air affect air quality in nearby communities and contributes to climate change. Climate change being such a pressing issue in our modern day society calls for a demand of attention to paper production.