Recycled Paper Quiz

Measure Your Knowledge About Recycled Paper

Every day, recycled paper is collected at recycling centers or in bins that are placed outside for pickup. It is sorted, tied up into bales, and carted away to recycling plants.

At the recycling plant, the used paper is placed into a huge blender where it is mixed with water which pulls inks away from the paper fibers and separates the fibers into a pulp mixture.

The clean pulp is mixed with new wood pulp to make the recycled paper stronger. (Recycled paper fibers get shorter the more often they are recycled. Most fibers can be recycled.) The clean pulp is pressed into sheets, dried, finished and placed onto rolls.

Now, take the quiz below to test how much you know about paper recycling and how much paper is used in this country each year.

Here are your choices to answer the questions: a. 60 pounds; b. 2 million pounds; c. 900 million; d. one-third; e. 580 pounds; f. 500,000 trees; g. 64 percent; 58 percent; h. (approximately 40 percent); i. about 35 percent; j. 20 times.

To take the quiz, read the question, then pick the answer above that you think is the right answer, then place your mouse cursor over the blank and we'll tell you right away what the correct answer is.

Question #1:

Every day American businesses generate enough paper to circle the earth _______j. 20 times!

Question #2:

Americans use more than 67 million tons of paper per year, or about ________e. 580 pounds per person.

Question #3:

Paper products make up the largest part ______________h. (approximately 40 percent)

Question #4:

Every day Americans recover more than _________b. 2 million poundsof paper! That's about 40 percent of the paper we use.

Question #5:

Paper products account for ___________i. about 35 percent of the world's annual commercial wood harvest.

Question #6:

Trees are the source of paper. One tree can filter up to ________a. 60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year.

Question #7:

Every year more than ___________c. 900 million trees are cut down and sent off to American paper and pulp mills.

Question #8:

More than _____________d. one-third of all fiber used to make paper comes from recycled paper.

Question #9:

Making recycled paper instead of new paper uses __________g. 64 percent less energy and uses ________g. 58 percent less water.

Question #10:

Every Sunday, Americans buy newspapers equivalent to ___________f. 500,000 trees!

One More Fact!
Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water!

How did you do on the quiz?

If you are a teacher and would like a hard copy or you had trouble taking the quiz online, we have provided a PDF file for download here.

The Delta Chapter is 3,000 of your neighbors supporting the work of the Sierra Club in Louisiana. We advance the cause of protecting Louisiana's environment in a variety of ways, including lobbying the state legislature in Baton Rouge, sponsoring a Mercury Public Education Campaign, raising public awareness about climate change, and working to keep the Atchafalaya Basin, America's greatest river swamp, wet and wild. In addition, we encourage our members to get outside and enjoy our beautiful planet.

The Sierra Club's members and supporters are more than 1.3 million of your friends and neighbors. Inspired by nature, we work together to protect our communities and the planet. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.

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