Author: Michael Evans
Declining newspaper sales will lead to a shortage of toilet paper according to Seventh Generation, a marketer of green consumer products. "The decline of print newspapers and magazines is a source of concern for journalists, but it also has an impact on the worldwide paper market", says Martin Wolf, a director of the company. "After coming to depend on readers to dutifully recycle their old periodicals, paper manufacturers are now finding that supplies of high-quality paper for recycling are becoming scarce."
Blame is placed on the rise in the use of iPhones, BackBerrys and, of course iPads, for the decline in the printed word and this is a rising trend that will eventually lead to shortages and, presumably inflation in the price of lavatory paper. Never spend a penny when a pound will do, as goes the old saying.
Perhaps the holy grail of the paperless office, now more than ever likely, will help redress the balance by reducing the amount of printer paper we need to buy. But the decline of the newspaper as we know it is a serious matter. I know many people who now rely entirely on electronic media for their news and, despite all the old Luddites out there, the move from print to screen is unstoppable. Electronic book readers are a minority interest at the moment; next year they will be huge. And within ten years, I believe, the traditional newspaper will be dead. If Mr. Wolf is to be believed, we'll also need an electronic paperless device in the smallest room. This is something for an inventive man like Sir Clive Sinclair, I think.
Source: Daily Telegraph