What Is The Precautionary Principle?

5) How you feel the issue can be made better either by the use of technology, the economy, and/or the precautionary principle.
This issue can be made better by using technology to update the machinery used to make paper in mills that are still productive. Many mills still operate with the same machines that have been there since the mills opened. The cost of new machinery is too great for a failing mill to absorb, even if the update would help the mill become productive once again. It is important for mills to update the equipment before the industry declines any more. The paper mill in Madison could only produce supercalender paper, which lead to its closing as the demand for supercalender paper went down and the mill had no other kind of
As stated in the book Taking Sides, the precautionary principle is “When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically” (Easton, 2016). While the activity of making paper may cause damage to humans or the environment, the industry may not be around for that much longer, or at least there will be so few mills that the effect will be slight. The precautionary principle should have been used many years ago, if at all and to some degree it was. As the dangers were realized, regulations and laws were put in place to help reduce the dangers. These laws and regulations are still in place today, helping reduce the potential dangers of chemicals used and wastes produced through making
The Sappi company supports Living Lands and Waters by providing money and man power to the organizations efforts. Living Lands and Waters searches out prominent waterways in the United States in need of help, cleaning them up while helping the species that depend on the waterways and bring them back to their natural beauty (About Us, n.d.). Through doing this, those that live in the area are made aware of water pollution issues (About Us, n.d.). Sappi gets good publicity from donating to and working with the organization, helping to restore any bad reputation they may have as a water polluter. The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) has also taken steps to show that the paper industry is trying to make the environment better, making up for the damage caused to it by paper production. Better Practices, Better Planet 2020, an initiative put forth by AF&PA to help the environment, has “goals focusing on paper recovery for recycling, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable forestry practices, workplace safety, and water use” (AF&PA on the Issues, n.d.). These practices not only reduce waste in the process of making paper itself, but also deal with the byproducts created in this process. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is probably as close as it comes to a criminal institution for