Paper usage is increasing at an alarming rate all around the world and it has been estimated that we use 1 million tons of paper each day. So much use of paper is absolutely unnecessary and a waste and is putting a lot of pressure on our environment and wildlife. It is also one of the major contributors for climate change and global warming. Therefore, it is must that we learn how to save paper by taking an initiative at becoming environment friendly.
There are so many ways in which offices can reduce their paper consumption and thus their costs. Some of these are listed below:
- Think before you print work documents in large numbers; more often than not these end up in storage rooms and clog the storage space.
- Avoid printing out single e-mails or making unnecessary copies of documents where only one would normally suffice.
- Always print on both sides of the paper.
- Have paperless meetings; in other words try not to use paper unnecessarily for noting down the minutes or other important things.
- Use electronic mode of communication i.e. e-mails and chats for communicating with your colleagues, seniors, or even your clients.
- Use e-mails announcing meetings or other making other important announcements.
- Instead of sending printed copies of documents from one department or office to another, use e-mails or USB devices.
- Use Microsoft’s “Fit to Page” feature that will let you re-scale the size of the page your printing and enable you to print evenly using fewer number of pages.
- You can also use the “Print Preview” feature to make sure that your document fits on a single sheet of paper.
Students can also learn to save paper in many ways when they are at school. Schools are the best place where you can take steps for saving paper, as this not only inculcates good habits among children but also brings out the passion among students, which is very important. Here are a few tips for doing so:
- Wherever possible, use computers instead of paper such as for doing assignments, homework etc. Instead of writing it on sheets of paper or printing out pages from a computer, you can simply work on your computers or laptops and e-mail it to your teachers.
- Try to buy notebooks made or recycled paper as and when possible. If there are few unwritten pages left in one of your notebooks, don’t throw the book away; you can use the papers for rough work or send the notebook for recycling.
- Use both sides of papers in your notebooks and avoid leaving too much space in between lines.
- Don’t waste paper by making silly notes and pictures and passing them in class to your friends. Although it sounds fun, you should realize that you are wasting a lot of paper by doing this and you can also get in trouble if your teacher notices you.
- Try to write in small handwriting while ensuring that it is legible. This will help you to save a lot of paper.
- Students can also get themselves involved in environmental clubs and make their community ecology-savvy.
- Teachers can educate students about the importance of saving paper by telling them ways in which they can conserve and reuse paper.
Apart from saving paper at school and workplace, there are many thing that you can do at your home to save paper. These are:
- Buy second-hand books and magazines from your local library instead of buying new ones.
- Old newspapers and magazines can be easily recycled.
- You can donate old magazines, comics and storybooks which you no longer need or read to charities, NGOs, hospitals etc.
- Pay your utility bills online and ask your provider not to send unnecessary mails or letters or even bills to your house.
- You can also ask your bank not to send any promotional letter or even bank statements through mail. You can check your account status online easily.
- You can also do away with your daily newspaper by reading the news online. Almost all major newspapers are now available on the internet. You will save a lot of paper by doing this.
- Send e-greetings and e-cards instead of paper cards for birthdays and festivals.