One of the most persistent and most preventable operation costs in the modern office is paper waste. Even though in the age of cloud storage, enterprise content management, and mobile-first communication, there are more ways to transmit information without using papers. Some employees tend to take print equipment for granted; however, it is easier to print out a document than to keep it in an electronic format. It does not translate to be more productive and efficient. Going paperless is a movement that is not going anytime soon, with the words “go green” “green office” that are the current era’s buzzwords. As we know already, the paper is pretty cheap and renewable, but it is important to note that 40% of the industrial wood goes into paper products. By 2050 the pulp and paper production is expected to be over 50% of the world’s industrial wood demand.
There are always harmful effects on the environment, such as pollution caused by a single paper mill. When you add it all up, the cost of printing a book includes ecosystem damage, waste of natural resources, and adds up to landfill. Instead, let’s all look for ways to reduce our paper use so we can save as many trees as possible. We begin with these seven timely suggestions.
One: Recycle your phone books
Today, very few people use a phone book, but most cities still print one. They are rarely recycled, but it is possible to save approximately 30 trees only by recycling 500 average-sized telephone books. When new phone books arrive, be sure to throw the old ones in the recycling garbage can each year. These items can be recycled just like any other paper product. There is nothing difficult or complicated about the process. Most of us forget about it.
Two: You can’t opt for junk mail
Many of us can fill a trash can with the junk mail we receive in a week. It takes a long time to open all those letters, and it’s also a waste. There is simply nothing that can be done. You can stop receiving individual emails, but many people don’t know that you can again do it with printed junk mail. It’s dangerous on this day and time to allow companies to mail you pre-approved credit card applications. These can be stolen and used by thieves to get credit cards in your name.
Consumer reporting companies maintain a website and a toll-free number that consumers can call to opt-out of these offers. By simply contacting the toll-free number, you can opt-out of receiving them for five years. If you want to stop receiving spam permanently, then you must go to the website. The process is a little more complicated, but still worth it.
Three: Go paperless
Many people have already done so, but it’s simple to go paperless to your bank and all the creditors. Since it is much cheaper for companies to send their statements and invoices by email, most companies make it very simple to choose to “go paperless”. Go to their website and look for information about this on the home page. Usually, you need to log in to your account and then set up the “paperless” option. Usually, it’s just a matter of a few clicks, and you’re done.
Four: Stop printing so much
The average consumer has a much better grasp of this concept than the average business. Most owners barely use their printers these days. In the office, it’s a different story. The average office still prints reports, surveys, journals, meeting notes, and many other items. When you need to print something, you can easily adjust the margins to 0.75 inches and get more writing on each page. This reduces the number of pages in each document.
Five: Subscribe to online magazines
Who of us has a dusty pile of old magazines somewhere in our house? This is a fairly common problem. You can eliminate this problem by signing up for magazines online. When you think about it, online publications make more sense. Once a document is digitized, you can quickly search for information through it. We’ve all read something interesting that we wanted to look at again, but we can’t find the right book or magazine. It is easy to search digital documents of any length with a single keyword and find exactly what you are looking for. If you are one of those who hate to throw away old magazines, this is the perfect solution. Just choose your digital publications from now on.