Figures I have seen indicate that approximately 20 billion catalogs are printed and distributed in the U.S. every year. That’s about 60 catalogs for each person in the U.S. If my own mail is any indication, I would say that is accurate.

It would be funny if it didn’t affect the environment so much. Computers and the Internet were supposed to take us into a paperless society, but it seems we use more paper than ever. When you consider that online sales in the U.S. were $4.5 billion in 2007, you wonder why we need so many catalogs. I am not sure we need them all but I know why they are printed. This statement by a marketing research company says it all.

Marketing Vox
“The paper catalog is still the largest revenue generator — some 50 percent of sales in both 2007 and 2008 — among all channels used by companies that sell goods to consumers and businesses from a remote location, though web sales continue to grow, a new study finds.”

I think it is safe to say that most of the catalogs printed are pretty much tossed before they are read. You would think the catalog-marketing folks would find it more cost effective to be more discerning with their distributions. Perhaps we need an opt-in list as we do with email, or maybe there is a better idea for the use for all those catalogs.

 What if we had the catalog people print catalogs on a soft paper using soy ink. That way we could recycle the paper by using it as toilet paper. They did that a hundred years ago using the regular paper, but hey were hardier people. They also used corncobs. Yeiks!

I think I am on to something here. J If all catalogs (except Victoria Secrets catalogs that must be preserved) were printed on toilet paper and used for that purpose we could save on land fill, the cost of toilet paper (value added for Sears and other catalog providers) and about 11 tons of CO2 emissions per year used to create the paper for the catalogs.

 
This could revolutionize the catalog business. Instead of people complaining about receiving so many catalogs they will be happy to receive them and it will give people something to read while doing their “business”.  Alternatively, we could just start using the Internet to order online, or actually go to a store and experience the fun of shopping and get some exercise at the same time.

 I am told that 3.6 million tons of paper is used to print the 20 billion catalogs distributed in the U.S. That’s 15 Million trees. So, what does 3.6 million of paper look like anyway? Let’s use the Sears Tower as a comparison. After all Sears started the catalog biz so it is only fair we use them.

 The Sears Tower is 1,454' tall and was the largest building in the world for 22 years. It weighs 222,500 tons. So, it would take over 16 Sears Towers to equal the paper we would save by not printing catalogs.