Does recycling paper require more water?

Question

When a paper is recycle to be used again does it use more water? Even though we say it uses less energy, but we also seem to consider water being scarce in parts of the country.

Answer 1

Making paper from scratch uses just as much water...if not more so.  

So, recycling is still better.

Answer 2

if done properly the water is recycled. so "no"

Answer 3

no. if the waste water is discarded and not recycled you may use slightly more but once you take into account how much water is required to grow trees in plantations its far better to recycle. if its not grown in plantations the harvesting is normally not sustainable and destroying ecosystems to its still much better to recycle.

Answer 4

New paper uses more trees, oil, energy, and water than recycled paper. Yes, recycled paper uses some resources but not to the same extent.

Your best bet however is to minimize your use of paper as much as possible. Use cloth napkins, get rid of paper plates, use both sides of a sheet of paper, use mailers as shipping "stuffing", make lists on a dry erase or chalk board that canbe affixed to a fridge door (I use a PDA for list making), etc.

Answer 5

I don't know exactly how much water is used to recycle paper. But I think that there are a lot more trees being cut down than rivers drying up.