News about newsprint

[Torsten Wesley Adair]

On Tuesday, 4 April 1995, Daniel Shane wrote:
> The issue of paper avilability is indeed critical.  Some have concluded that
> in 10 years nobody will be able afford the stuff, and we'll all get our news
> and reading matter electronically.  I don't know how close to the truth that
> is, but we'll all be paying a LOT more for anything on paper.

A few bits of information:
	1) In Washington, DC, recyclers are paying such good prices for
newsprint that thieves are driving around town stealing newspapers set out
for the licensed recycler.
	2) Hemp (from marijuana) can be grown in greater quantities than
trees, faster than trees, and it produces a stronger fiber. 
Unfortunately, here in the USA, hemp has a bad reputation, even though the
Declaration of Independence is printed on hemp paper.  Perhaps Holland
will corner the market?
	3) I predict that eventually, natural resources will become so
scarce, and thus valuable, that landfills will be mined and recycled. 
(Nothing decays in a landfill.  Newspapers from the 1950s have been found
in near-mint condition.)
	4) One reason for the scarcity of golden age comics is that many
were recycled during the scrap drives of World War Two.

Torsten Adair	torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu	Omaha, NE, USA