Almost 2000 years ago, in 105AD, a Chinese court official named Cai Lun watched a wasp making its nest. He saw the insect chew up pieces
of bamboo, and then mix it with its own saliva to produce a pulp. The pulp was next flattened into a sheet by the wasp, by using its legs. This sheet was used to line the wasp’s nest. Cai Lun copied the wasp, and made a paste of bamboo and water. He then flattened the paste into a thin sheet, dried the sheet in the sun… and paper was invented! Paper soon replaced papyrus and parchment as the most popular writing material. The Chinese used mulberry bark and bamboo to make paper, while the Europeans preferred linen and cotton rags. Nowadays, paper is made from the wood of fast growing trees such as pines, fir and spruce. Paper mills have sprung up wherever there is a good supply of water and wood, producing paper of every colour and texture imaginable. Today, the ever increasing demand for forests into pulp to feed the paper mills. So it is very important that we do not waste paper, and also that we learn to recycle and reuse it
