 Many people wonder what the big deal is about paper, as the organisation does not spend much on it. But what most people do not realise is that the costs of making paper, its consumption and disposal have a large environmental impact for each sheet of paper used. Paper is an office and personal necessity for some essential tasks, but it has an environmental cost. Creating paper from trees requires a lot of natural resources: trees, water, and energy.
Cost to the environment:
- It takes about 6 trees (3.3 m3 of spruce or pine tree) to produce one tonne of printing paper.
- It takes more than 1˝ cups of water to make one sheet of paper.
- Greenhouse gases: 40 reams of paper is equivalent to a loss of 1.5 acres of pine forest absorbing carbon for a year.
- The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities and is the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, after the chemical and steel industries.
- Paper makes up to 30% of our daily garbage, a proportion expected to grow by more than 50 percent in the next 50 years.
Cost to the economy:
Then there is an economical cost too; buying paper is just a small part, a company incurs not only purchasing costs, but also storage, copying, printing, postage, disposal, and recycling—and it adds up. It has been estimated that associated paper costs could be as much as 31 times the purchasing costs (not including labour).
| Some practical suggestions to reduce paper wastage:
| a. |
Use both sides - Use the front and back of a piece of paper and cut your paper use and costs in half. |
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Set computer defaults to print double-sided. |
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Make double-sided copies when possible. |
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Give it a second chance: Use paper printed on only one side in your fax machine, for draft copies or internal documents, or as scratch paper. |
| b. |
Think before you print or copy - Sometimes it is necessary for documents to be printed. Print responsibly. |
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Preview documents before printing. Use the print preview to spot formatting errors and blank pages before you print. Proofread first, and use the spell/grammar tool to help avoid errors that can cause documents to be reprinted. |
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Print only the pages you need. If only a few pages of the document are needed, print only those pages instead of the whole report. Most software programs provide this option under the print function. |
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Promote a "think before you copy" attitude. Consider sharing some documents with co-workers. Print only the number of copies needed for the meeting, don't make extras. |
| c. |
Close the loop on recycling Recycled Paper. |
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It reduces total energy consumption by 27%, net greenhouse gas emission by 47%, particulate emissions by 28%, wastewater by 33%, solid waste by 54% and reduces wood use by 100%. |
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It can save you and your organization money. |
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Buy recycled-content paper, preferably made from paper pulp recycled without the use of chlorine. |
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| d. |
Go electronic – Store and process information electronically. |
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Fit more words onto each page (e.g., smaller font, narrower margins). Simply changing the default margins from 1.25" to 1" can reduce the amount of paper you use by up to 8%. Use a space-efficient font like Times New Roman. |
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Create an electronic filing system for quick, easy retrieval. |
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Route memos and newsletters that employees should see, but do not need to keep. That way newsletter and other documents can be shared rather than copied. |
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Use revision features in word processing software. You can edit documents on screen instead of printing out drafts and making hand-written comments. |
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Send information electronically. Use e-mails instead of fax or mailed letters when possible. It's faster. |
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Eliminate unnecessary hard copy forms. Sometimes documents become obsolete and are no longer needed. If forms are still needed consider making them electronic. |
| e. |
Maintain Printers and Photo-copier - Keep copiers and printers in good repair and make it policy to only buy copiers and printers that make reliable double-sided copies. Let your copier maintenance person know when a copier is performing poorly (toner is low, jams frequently, etc.). Regular copier maintenance is important, especially if the toner is low. Copiers are often used until all the toner is gone and that wears down machines. A copier that works well is less likely to jam and this helps save paper! |
Thus with efficient utilization of paper we reduce garbage generation which in turn reduces the cost and effort in disposing of waste or recycling it later. Changing our habits not only at work but also at home and in all our activities is the key to a greener tomorrw.
Let us begin today!
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