I’m a graphic producer born in the 70s and I remember the easy mistakes that my generation made, innocently, against the environment.

Today we are living a long-feared pandemic that is a result of human atrocities against Mother Earth. The printing industry depends on several natural resources and it’s time to think about what we’re doing and how to fight this abuse.

I remember how we tossed the candy wrappers out of the bus window on a field trip, how we dropped chips bags on the way to school, or how we busted milk cartons and left them flat on the playground. I remember it was even said, at that time, that plastic would be the salvation of forests. And it was all normal.

What happened since?

I feel that we have been drifting from opinions, always influenced by the political-economic contexts, by individual needs. A game of interests.

And in one-thousandth of the history of our planet, we managed to destroy thousands of years of its improvement. Consequences?

“For decades, scientists repeatedly warned us that the destruction of forests would have unpredictable and devastating consequences for public health. Now the time is up and the time bomb went off.”

For the Amazonian tribe Yanomami, Urihi is the earth-forest living entity, endowed with vital breath, a fertility principle of mythical origin. And what we are experiencing has nothing to do with that principle.

Forests are our shields and they keep us safe from the diseases that circulate among wild animals. For decades, scientists repeatedly warned us that its destruction would have unpredictable and devastating consequences for public health. Now the time is up and the time bomb went off.

Animal origin diseases such as Ebola, HIV, Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Avian Influenza, and Influenza A have raised the alarm about possible pandemics in recent years. All of them were triggered by human destruction and uncontrolled exploitation of wildlife-rich environments.

The loss and degradation of forests is already a real threat to health, climate, security, and global economic growth. And it came under the name SARS-CoV-2. The consequences are irreversible!

I feel that we’ve reached the limit … the one that seemed so distant, but ended up catching us after all, depriving us of all that we took for granted: our freedom at all levels.

I have realized since I am confined to my home, that Urihi is giving us a big ear tug. It forced us to stop and think.

In the past two months, we have seen an 80% reduction in nitrogen dioxide emission in Lisbon. This gas is one of the main causes of respiratory diseases. And all because of a disease that mainly affects the lungs. Isn’t it ironic?

Much is said about what’s wrong, but there’s not a lot of thought on how to act differently. And here at Finepaper we truly want to change that!

The printing industry depends on resources such as energy and water, raw materials such as paper and chemical elements present in ink, varnishes, and solvents. We make decisions that always result in environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of our projects. And it’s time to think about what we’re doing and how to fight this abuse.

We will start a process to minimize the impact of what we do. We want to be more sustainable and use Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Rethink, and Refuse!

The size, shape, color, printing style, and raw material options will determine the size of our ecological footprint. And by making eco-friendly decisions, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make more efficient use of natural resources.

We already have as our principle the use of  FSC certified brands, which guarantee us that the paper comes from responsible forest management. But we want more.

“We make decisions that always result in environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of our projects. And it’s time to think about what we’re doing and how to fight this abuse.”

The choice of paper with the highest percentage of recycled material,  better use of the paper size, partners with certifications, encouraging customers to use recycled materials and alternatives to plastics, are just some of the immediate solutions. Slowly, we are changing mindsets.

I believe that we’ll all come out of this process more aware and less permissive concerning our environmental future. All together, we will try to calm Urihi in its uprising.

It’s our nature!

Copy editor: Spice. Creative Seasoning
Design & DTP: Spice. Creative Seasoning
Illustration: Medzcreative