This from Steven Edwards at the NYDN:

Bold statements about the need to save the world’s trees poured into the United Nations last week at a massive conference called the Forum on Forests.

And yet the world body produces so many reports daily it is known as the globe’s most prodigious paper factory.

Which wouldn’t be so bad if someone were getting some benefit from all the printed words.

Alas, most of the reports go unread, their shelf life being just a few days as they pass from racks marked “today’s documents,” to “recent documents,” and finally to giant plastic bins for recycling.

The UN conservatively estimates 700 million pages stream off its printing presses every year. Critics say the total is closer to 2 billion.