Trees are used to make pulp and paper products - notebook paper to write on, diapers for your baby brother or sister, packaging to protect frozen foods, napkins to wipe mustard from your mouth, books and magazines to read, paper cups to drink from, and even envelopes to carry messages across the country and around the world.
Paper History In ancient times, people wrote on animal skins, bones
and clay tablets. Around 3500 BC, the Egyptians wrote on a woven
mat of reeds called papyrus, which is where the word paper comes
from. Around 2,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered that they
could make a thin paste of mulberry bark, hemp and rags and
let it dry into a sheet in the sun. Many types of paper are
now made from wood.
Making Paper
Logs are chipped into small pieces of wood. These chips are
cooked with chemicals that dissolve lignin
This leaves a pulp made of cellulose and lots of water. The pulp is put on a screen
to let the water drain away. The fibers remain to form a sheet
of paper that is dried and put on a roll.
What Kind of Tree
Is in my Paper?
Different kinds of paper are made from the fiber of different kinds of trees. Products like bath tissue that need to be soft, smooth or absorbent are made primarily from hardwood trees are used to make products like bath tissue, napkins and towels, such as oaks and maples. These fibers are cooked for a long time.
Bags and boxes have to be strong and last a long time. These items are made from softwood trees like firs and pines. The fibers are cooked for just a short time to keep their strength.
Writing paper, checks and envelopes are made from a combination of hardwood and softwood trees.
Softwood fibers make the paper strong so it doesn't tear too easily. Hardwood fibers make it smooth so you can write on it.
