Did you know that office paper products such as copy paper and notebooks make up the largest percentage of landfill waste?
An average office worker uses roughly 10,000 sheets of copy paper per year. And an estimated 45% of all documents printed in offices end up getting discarded by the end of the day. With such an exorbitant use of paper in offices, they are the first place to start limiting paper waste and positively impact the environment.
If you’re an employer - not only is reducing paper in your office a great act for the world (while saving you money), it's a great brag on Linkedin as well!
How to Reduce Paper Waste in the Office?
Following some simple practices can help greatly reduce the amount of paper wasted every day in offices. Some of these are:
Limit how much you print
Are you someone who ends up printing every document that comes across your workspace? Or perhaps, you’re responsible for printing out documents as per various requirements at the office.
It is time this practice is stopped or is seriously reassessed, and a switch to using digital documents is made! The next time your boss asks you for a print, you know how to save yourself the trouble! Make the case for sustainability and reducing paper usage, and send him to this article.
Not only will it save you the trouble of engaging in meaningless tasks such as running to the printer, it will also save your company the additional costs of copy paper and printer ink!
In cases where printing can’t be avoided, keep the following in mind!
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Only print the number of pages needed instead of an entire document.
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Reduce the margins to fit more text on a page.
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Use Garamond font instead of Times New Roman. Smaller fonts will require less ink and paper.
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Proofread to correct any errors before printing to avoid reprinting.
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Print double-sided.
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Reuse paper that has been printed on only one side by printing drafts on the unused side.
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Switch to Recycled Copier Paper!
Take notes on your computer or smartphone when possible
Taking paper notes can use up a lot of paper, which may be harmful to the environment. Instead, use a computer or your smartphone. You could use the sticky note tool, note apps like Evernote or Microsoft Onenote, or a word processor to do this.
You can also add images to your notes, colour code them and easily organise everything. Another advantage of taking notes online is that they can be shared across devices – laptops, mobile phones, tablets, etc.
When it comes to meetings and brainstorming, instead of using post-it notes, switch to a whiteboard to jot down key ideas.
Use cloud storage for your files
Many businesses are adopting online file storage programs - not only for sustainability, but for ease of use as well.
You can use a platform like Google Drive to share your reports and documents. Google Drive allows you to store multiple formats as well as make edits online and is a convenient option for sharing files and folders within a team or with clients.
The Box is another storage system with similar functionality to a cloud-based product. The additional feature offered here is that it allows for data security and gives you complete control over all your data.
Write on both sides of the paper
Writing on both sides of a paper is a great way of saving paper and inculcating the habit of reducing waste. If possible, the use of recycled paper notebooks and office stationery should be encouraged to develop a habit of sustainability.
Store paper that has been used only on one side and reuse it for rough work or to take other notes.
Conclusion
Sustainability and reducing paper waste are the need of the hour with the highly negative impact the paper manufacturing process has on the environment. Do your part in this sustainability movement. Switch to Rescript’s Recycled Notebooks & Stationery Now!
