That's another kettle of fish, and you're right on most counts, except I'd lose the "it's stupid" attitude - people 'waste' resources in satisfying their tastes

That's another kettle of fish, and you're right on most counts, except I'd lose the "it's stupid" attitude - people 'waste' resources in satisfying their tastes in many ways. We can keep haggling about the price till the cows come home. Actually, coming back to the trees for paper-making, you can add to the downsides that usually the trees are fast-growing (e.g. eucalyptus), not 'nobler' woods (even humble pines are too slow). And the mills do smell a bit - in a particular highway route, I can tell when I'm driving past one mill I can't see. On the other hand, the process does capture carbon from CO2 ... P.S. A good argument can be made that 'wasting resources' is the basis of human civilization, without which we'd be living in caves and frugally feeding on berries. Check out what happened because of luxuries like silk and condiments like pepper ...