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31WaystoReducePaperUsage|VisionofEarth

Designsomethingthatmakesoxygen,sequesterscarbon,fixes
nitrogen,distillswater,accruessolarenergyasfuel,makescomplex
sugarsandfood,createsmicroclimates,changescolorswiththe
seasons,andselfreplicates.
Well,whydontweknockthatdownandwriteonit?
Ifyoueverbegintodoubthowunbelievablywondroustreesare,readthatabovestatement
again.Itisasoberingcalltoactionevenasourworldsecosystemsfacetremendousand
increasingoveruse.Byrespectingandunderstanding(andmimickingasbestwecan)the
beautyandspectacularcapabilityofthelivingworld,wecanlearntoliveincreasingly
happyandhighqualitylivesinharmonywithnature.

Why should I?
1.Savesyoumoneyinthelongrun.Papercoststendtoaddupovertime.Ifyoudoubt
thisclaim,tryaccountingforyourhomeorofficepaperproductusageoverthe
courseofamonthperiod.
2.Theprocessofrecyclingpaperrequiresenergyandusuallybleachingagents.Both
bleachandenergyproductiongenerallyharmtheenvironment.
3.About90%ofpapercomesfromtrees,themajorityofwhicharenotsustainably
harvested.3Byreducingourpaperusewecanreduceoursupportforthisgenerally
nonrenewableindustry.

How can I do it?

1.Dontprintthislist.Ifyoureallywanttoprintit,doitdoublesidedwithsmallmargins
andsmallfont.Copyandpasteitintoawordprocessorsothatyoucancontrol
exactlywhatgetsprinted.

In general
1.Changeyourbillstopaperlessandpaythemonlineorbyphone.Mostcompanies
willmakethiseasyforyoutodosinceanEmailisalotcheaperthanpostage.You
canalsosetupautomaticbilling,whichshouldbeevenlowerstress(assumingthat
youcanpaythem)sinceitjustautomaticallydebitsyourbankaccountatbillingtime.
Askforpaperlessreportsfromcreditcardsandbanksaswell.Mostbanksofferthis
servicethroughtheirwebsitesorphonesupport.
2.Saveonlinereceiptsinafolderonyourcomputer.How?InWindowsyoucantakea
screenshotbypressingthePrintScreen(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_screen)
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keyonyourkeyboard.Onceyouhavetakenthescreenshotyoucanusepastein
animageeditingprogramsuchasPaint,orawordprocessorsuchasMicrosoft
Word.Thiscangetabittiresomeifthereceiptismultiplepageslong.Anevenbetter
techniqueistoprinttoafile.Therearemanyprinttofiletechniquesavailable,though
theydependonyourcomputersoperatingsystemandsetup.Everyoperating
systemthatIamawareofhasoneofthese,itjustsometimestakesalittlebitof
settingup.Ifyoudontknowhowtoprinttoafile,trysearchingfor<youroperating
systemnameandversion>printtofileonanInternetsearchenginesuchas
Google.Youcanrefinethissearchbyputtinginafiletypeaswell,suchaspdf,rtf,
png,etc.Ifyoudontfeelyourtechnicalskillsareuptothetask,askacomputer
savvyfriendorakid.
3.Trytoendjunkmail.Manycompanieshavesimplecontactdetailsforphoneor
internet.TherearemanytipsfordoingthisaroundtheInternetsuchasatEHow
(http://www.ehow.com/how_5429303_endjunkmail.html).
4.Minimizeyouruseofpaper.Reuseonesidedpaperfornotes,sketches,rough
work,etc.Usebothsidesofpiecesofpaper.
5.Dontuseabiggerpieceofpaperthanyouneed.Ifyouonlyneedhalforaquarterof
apagetowritedownarecipeorshoppinglist,thenonlyusethatamount.
6.Usepaperfromrecyclingbinsfornotes,etc.Mostpeopleonlyprintononeside,
leavingafullsideofhighqualitywhitepaper.Thissavedmealotofmoneyin
university.Thelibraryalwayshadalotofpaperintherecyclebinsbesidethe
printers.Iwouldjustgoinandtakeastackeveryonceinawhile.Theamountthat
peopleprintedandsentstraightintotherecyclebinswasjuststaggering.
7.Useelectronicstorageratherthanpaperstorageformaterial.Dontprintthemunless
youreallyhaveto.Electronicstoragecanbeveryreliableifitissetupwithbackups.
Howdoyoumakeautomaticallyscheduledbackups?ForWindowsIhave
usedDirSyncPro(http://www.dirsyncpro.org/)whichcanberunusingtheWindows
scheduleratspecifictimesoftheday/week/month.SeetheDirSyncProFAQ
(http://www.dirsyncpro.org/faq.html)formoreinfoonhowtosetthatup.Thereare
alsobuiltinbackuputilitiesforversionsofMacOSX,Linux,andWindowsthathave
beenreleasedinthelastfivetotenyears.Youcaneasilyfindouthowtousethese
bysearchingonline.AnotheralternativethatIhavebeenlikinglatelyiscloudstorage
online.IusethefreeserviceofferedbyGoogleDocsformostofmydocument
needs,soIneverhavetoworryaboutharddrivefailures.
8.Ifyouneedtobuypaper,buyrecycledwhenyoucan.Itisntperfect,butitisastep
intherightdirection.
9.Befrugalaboutmagazinesubscriptions,newspapersetc.Manynewspapershave
onlineversions.Onlinemagazinesubscriptionsarealsoavailableatplaces
likeBarnes&Noble(http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/magazines/index.asp).

Printing

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Printing
1.Thinkbeforeyouprint.Doyoureallyneedtoprintit?Manypeoplehavebadhabitsof
justclickingtheprintbuttonwhenevertheywanttoreadsomething.Especiallyin
officesettingsthiscanbeincrediblywasteful.Ifyoucomputerscreenisntnice
enoughtoreadthingson,considerupgradingtoanewer,higherqualityone.
Specifically,oldCRTmonitorshaveaflickertothemthatwasharderoneyesthan
modernLCDmonitors.Readingonascreenisntperfecteither,butitdoesntwaste
paperneedlessly.
2.Ifyouonlyneedonepageofadocument,onlyprintthat.Thisisoftenveryeasytodo
intheprintmenuofwhateverwordprocessor(orInternetbrowser)youareusing.
3.Whenprintingawebpage,copyandpastethetextintoawordprocessorsothatitis
formattedcorrectlyforprinting.Printingwebpagesasisoftenprintsalotofjunkthat
youdontwant,perhapsalsousingupcoloredinksaswell.
4.Proofreadyourworkcarefullybeforeprintingit.Usetheprintpreviewmodeinyour
wordprocessor/presentationsoftware/spreadsheetsoftwareinordertomakesure
whatyouareprintingisexactlywhatyouwant.
5.Youcanprintonbothsidesofthepaperwithmostmodernprinters.Thisisoften
referredtoasprintduplex.
6.Adjustmarginsonyourdocuments.Thesmallermarginof.75inch(1.90cm)is
becomingmorecommon.

Ofce
1.Electronicdocumentcollaborationissuperiortopaperdocumentcollaboration.Here
atVisionofEarthweuseGoogleDocs(http://docs.google.com/)forallofourwriting.
Itisasimplesystemthatallowsustocooperativelyeditdocuments,aswellastrack
thechangesmadebyeachperson.Formoreinformationonhowweatcollaborate,
seeourpostonsoftwaretoolsthatweusetocollaborateacrosstheworld
(http://www.visionofearth.org/productivitytools/software/softwaretoolsthatweuse
tocollaborateacrosstheworld/).
2.Itispossibletodoeffectiveeditingandcollaborationevenusingstandardword
processors.Forinstance,youcanlearntousetrackchangesinMicrosoftWord,or
Edit>ChangesinOpenOfficeWriter.Thisletsyouputeditingmarksindocuments,
andalsoviewtheeditingchangesthathavebeenmadebyotherpeople.
3.Useemail(electronicmail)ratherthanpapermailwhenyoucan.Mostbusinesses
andevengovernmentsareintheprocessoftransferringovertoelectronically
availableservices.Thiswilldrasticallyreducethecostsofpostalserviceaswell.
4.UseaUSBstick,alsoknownasathumbdrive,tomovearoundorshareelectronic
documentsratherthanprintingthem.Encouragepeoplecomingtomeetingstobring
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theirreportsinelectronicformat,andforattendeestobringelectronicstorageoftheir

own(orshareviaanInternetbaseddocumentstorage).Manycompaniesare
utilizinganintranetnow,allowingthemtosecurelydistributedocumentstocompany
employeesonly.
5.Useelectronicfaxservices.Thereareanumberofthemavailable,someofwhich
areevenfreeforonepagefaxessuchasfaxzero(http://faxzero.com/).Thequality
cansometimesbeabitlowwiththefreeservices,soitisrecommendedthatyou
phonethefaxreceivertomakesurethattheycanreadthesentdocument.
6.Dontplacepapercontactsonbusinesscards(suchasapostalmailingaddress).
Onlyputemail,andphone.Thisforcespeopletocontactyouthroughthese
electronicmediums.

Home
1.Useclothnapkins.
2.Useragsinsteadofpapertowels.
3.Trytonotusepaperplates.Usedurablewashableonesifyouneedsomethingfora
BBQ.Intermsofenvironmentalimpactthetrendusuallygoeslikethis:Reusable
platesarebetterthanpaperplateswhicharebetterthanplasticplates.
4.Useahandkerchiefinsteadofkleenex.
5.Useawhiteboardforlists/notes/announcements.
6.Buybulkfoodsusingyourownreusablecontainersratherthanbuyingsupermarket
boxedgoods.

Footnotes
1.TheDailyGreen.15FactsAboutthePaperIndustry,GlobalWarmingandthe
EnvironmentAndWhatYouCanDoAboutIt
(http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmentalnews/latest/7447).Accessed
November29th,2010.[

2.TheRealCostofPaper(http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5676508/TheRealCostof
Paper).DocStoc.2001RCCConsulting.AccessedNovember29th,2010.[

3.Wikipedia:Paperrecycling(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_recycling).Accessed
November29th,2010.[

Relatedpostsforfurtherreading:
1.Softwaretoolsthatweusetocollaborateacrosstheworld
(http://www.visionofearth.org/productivitytools/software/softwaretoolsthat
weusetocollaborateacrosstheworld/)
2.EnvisioningaGreenLife:10waysyoucanmakeadifference
http://www.visionofearth.org/livegreen/31waystoreducepaperusage/

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31WaystoReducePaperUsage|VisionofEarth

(http://www.visionofearth.org/livegreen/envisioningagreenlife10waysyou
canmakeadifference/)
3.Opportunitiesandperilsofnaturalgasusageontheroadtorenewables
(http://www.visionofearth.org/industry/renewableenergy/renewableenergy
review/opportunitiesandperilsofnaturalgasusageontheroadto
renewables/)
4.JimElliottshareshisthoughtsonsustainability,community,andlivinggreen
(http://www.visionofearth.org/media/interviews/jimelliottshareshisthoughts
onsustainabilitycommunityandlivinggreen/)
5.Arenewedlookat2010,asustainablevisionfor2011
(http://www.visionofearth.org/industry/renewableenergy/renewableenergy
review/arenewedlookat2010asustainablevisionfor2011/)

Conservation (http://www.visionofearth.org/tag/conservation/)
Energy (http://www.visionofearth.org/tag/energy/)

Green (http://www.visionofearth.org/tag/green/)

Software (http://www.visionofearth.org/tag/software/)

BEN HARACK (HTTP://WWW.VISIONOFEARTH.ORG/AUTHOR/HARACK1B/)

I'm an aspiring omnologist who is fascinated by humanity's potential.

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