At Home: Canadian Geographic prints environment issue on wheat paper
In a first for a North American magazine, Canadian Geographic?s annual environment issue has been printed on paper made from wheat.
The special issue has been printed using wheat straw?the part of wheat That’s left after the grain harvest.
As the CBC reports, Canadian Geographic says the addition of ?agricultural waste to pulp from trees could offer farmers a new source of revenue and cut the demand for pulp from the continent’s boreal forests.?
For the past four years, Canadian Geographic has been working on the wheat-paper project with a Canadian environmental group, Markets Initiative; the magazine’s printer, Dollco Printing; and the Alberta Research Council.
The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Rick Boychuk, told the CBC that ?We are all quite elated. This has galvanized the whole company. People are thrilled to be at the forefront of an initiative of this nature.?
While the goal may be to save forests, and presumably make the magazine more eco-friendly, a downside to the special paper is that the wheat-straw pulp used to make it was shipped from China.
To avoid the energy use required by shipping, some involved in the project hope to convince the North American pulp and paper industry that ?magazine-grade paper can be made here from agricultural waste produced by Canadian farmers.?
It’s estimated that Canadian farmers produce an estimated 21 million tonnes of wheat straw annually, a resource that could be turned into eight million tonnes of pulp and as many as 20 million magazines.
In Foreign News: South Africa deploys troops to halt attacks on foreigners
On May 11, the first of a wave of deadly attacks began on foreigners in South Africa, and the country has sent troops into the streets to try and stem the continued violence. The attacks have forced thousands to flee and resulted in 42 deaths so far.
The attacks, which began in the township of Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, have spread to the city centre and beyond. Durban has been the site of recent violence, and reports of attacks have come in from North-West province as well as Mpumalanga province in the north-east.
The violence is aimed at immigrants in South Africa, and It’s believed the attacks are fuelled by growing resentment that skilled foreigners are taking jobs while local residents face poverty and an unemployment rate of 30 per cent.
As many as 15,000 people have sought shelter in churches, community halls, and police stations, but many more have chosen to leave.
It’s estimated that there are three million Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa, many of whom are fleeing violence at home. But with armed mobs of as many as 200 roaming the streets and attacking foreigners, people continue to scramble for a spot on the special buses ferrying passengers out of the country.
Some sources, however, say that political groups have orchestrated the attacks, and have been supplying weapons to hostels in the various townships. Manala Manzini, director general of South Africa’s National Intelligence Agency, told reporters that ?the attacks were unleashed by movements that supported the apartheid government.?
This view is supported by South Africa’s minister of intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils, who has stated that there are a variety of factions who may be organizing the violence, each with their own political aims in mind.
As the BBC reports, the deployment of South African troops to aid police marks the first time the military has been called in to restore order since the 1994 end of apartheid.
