Conserving the environment is becoming more important every day as millions of trees are cut down around the world.

The Environmental Council of Organizations, a group comprised of the Conservationists, the Environmental co-chairs of Student Senate and the Campus Greens, is working with the idea of a Tree Free Campaign on campus. The campaign is pushing for the use of 100 percent Post-Consumer Waste paper. The campaign is working to preserve the world’s forests.

Senior Sabrina Hicks, vice president of the Conservationists, said that the 100 percent PCW paper is more environmentally friendly because it requires no trees to be directly cut to make paper, thus using already cut trees to the greatest advantage. It means that all the paper used goes back to making more paper.

Hicks said there is a difference between the PCW paper and recycled paper.

“Recycled paper does not necessarily mean that trees have not been cut down,” she said. “It can mean paper using by-products from logging mills, like leftover sawdust or wood chips.”

She said that PCW paper is a continuation of the cycle in the recycling process. It is made of already used paper products.

The idea of tree-free paper began last semester when students from UW-Eau Claire heard of a campaign underway at UW-Stevens Point. Hicks brought up the idea with other conservationist groups and the campaign began to take shape.

After much research, ECO decided to push for using Badger paper as their local supplier. Badger paper also doesn’t use chlorine to process paper.

Kristin De Groot, president of the Conservationists, said Badger paper was a good choice because less fossil fuel would be burned in transporting the paper to the campus, chlorine can end up in places it shouldn’t during processing, and Badger paper produces high quality paper that doesn’t usually cause printer problems.

During last semester, ECO gathered 1,800 student and faculty signatures for a petition presented to Student Senate. De Groot said the Senate Resolution means ECO has the Senate’s support, but ECO is responsible for pushing the matter further.

Hicks said that by using 100 percent PCW paper on campus, Eau Claire will be demonstrating that it is an environmentally conscious university, setting a trend for other institutions to follow.

Lois Norrgard of American Land Alliance is the regional contact for the Tree Free Campaign. Norrgard will speak at the rally as a representative of citizens nationwide who are working to protect wildlife and wild places.