Paper was invented thousands of years ago, but the mechanized method of papermaking took a long time to reach the United States. This country did not begin producing its own paper until 1690, when William Rittenhouse established the first paper mill near Germantown, Pennsylvania (Papermaking Moves). There are now more than five hundred paper mills in this country and “each year, more than 2 billion books, 350 million magazines, and 24 billion newspapers” are published in the United States alone (All About Paper). Many people fear that trees will disappear and landfills will grow out of control because paper is used for so many products. This fear is understandable, however every day new uses for waste paper are found. Instead of focusing only on the current problems of paper recycling, Americans need to help the paper industry, educators, artists, design entrepreneurs and even architects find new ways to recover paper waste. One of the current problems related to public consumption of paper products is the use of old and inefficient paper mills. Older factories may use too much energy recycling paper waste and allow large amounts of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere. The solution to this inefficiency is to modernize or build new paper mills that would use less energy and pollute less. Another problem in recycling is that consumers are still not as involved as they should be and fill around 27% of landfills with paper and cardboard every year (Text version). The disengagement, however, can be solved if everyone sorts out their paper products and takes them to a recycling center. Once the sorted paper leaves the recycling center, it enters the paper mill process and is transformed into many useful items.... ..half of the paper......, 2014.Molo Designs. “Soft seats”. Molo Design Studio. 2011. Network. 11 April 2014. “Paper production moves to the United States”. Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech. 13 June 2006. Web. 11 April 2014. “The Pritzker Architecture Prize goes to Shigeru Ban”. The New York Times. March 24, 2014. Web. April 11, 2014. “Questions and Answers on the Environmental Benefits of Recycled Paper.” Environmental Defense and Environmental Innovation Alliance. Network. April 11, 2014. “Shigeru Ban: Emergency Shelters Made of Paper.” TED talks. 13 August 2013. Video broadcast on the Web. 11 April 2014. “Text version of the municipal solid waste graphs”. Environmental Protection Agency. 28 February 2014. Web. 11 April 2014. “Waste-Resource conservation-Common waste and materials-Paper recycling”. Environmental Protection Agency. February 28, 2014. Web. April 11, 2014.