A SOLUTION: Many people believe that our intact forests are too precious to be logged.  They offer game, medicines, fruits, gums, resins, nuts, help moderate the world's climate, filter water supplies, maintain fisheries and watersheds, and provide a rich diversity of life.  There are alternatives to forest destruction and that is why many folks from all walks of life are calling for an end to industrial forestry and a campaign to reduce US wood consumption by 75% in the next ten years.
Paper does not have to be made from trees.  In fact, cutting down a tree, treating and processing it to make paper is one of the most expensive and environmentally degrading methods used.  However the pulp and paper industry is well established, subsidized and has a large consumer market.  It is hard for alternative markets to compete even though there is a growing demand for paper made from non-wood fiber.  The quality of alternative fiber paper continues to improve and is often better than wood fiber paper.  Alternative fiber paper has.
been proven to work well with most printing machines.  Availability is reasonable, but prices are higher than wood pulp based paper and will continue to be so until a huge market is created.  If colleges and universities bought only non-wood fiber papers for even a small percentage of their overall purchases, than the prices of non-wood papers would begin to drop.
At the Spring 1998 southeast regional SEAC conference, students decided, after hearing discussions about forest destruction in the US and of rainforests all over the world, to adopt a paper purchasing campaign for the southeast with a suggestion that it should become a national SEAC campaign.  Universities have tremendous consumer power and by buying alternative fiber products and/or paper containing no virgin wood fiber they would create a demand that would make these markets more accessible and affordable to the general public.  They would definitely put a dent in the tree-fiber market, ease the demand for tree-fiber products and send a strong message to industry and congress not to cut native forests.
The question is: How can students get their university to change its paper purchasing policies?  This will not be an easy task, but by developing a strategy that works, using some basic guidelines and looking at universities ( i.e. The University of Virginia and Rutgers) that have already been successful with similar campaigns, a good concise plan can be mapped out.
Before you can begin, you must come up with achievable goals.  Obviously, the ultimate goal is to get your university or college to buy only paper products that are made from tree-free fibers or contain no virgin wood products, but you may have to work on lesser goals first.  Below is an outline for starting a campaign to change the paper purchasing policies on your campus.


I Research and gather information
II Analyze your information
III Develop a Plan of Action and Timeline
  A. Establish target(s)
  B. Select tactics
IV Approach your target(s)
  A. Possibility of revising plan of action - depends on response
V Education and Outreach - Expanding your Support Base
VI Coalition Building
VII You are Successful!  What's next?