Seriously, Why All the Paper Wasting?

Maybe paper isn't the most interesting topic in the world. In fact, it is such a ubiquitous commodity that most of us use it on a daily basis without giving it a second thought.

Take this morning for instance...

I was chatting with a Wipebook supplier, and over the course of the conversation, the individual handed me a piece of paper comprising a first name and phone number, solely, with nothing else on the sheet.  And just last week I recall sitting in a meeting and was handed 33 sheets of presentation print-outs. And oh, by the way, I think there were 16 people in the meeting. So you do the math.  

(NOTE: This wasn't a Wipebook meeting; handing out mounds of paper that is going to end up in the trash or recycling, well, isn't really our thing.)

So, maybe we should pay more attention to all this paper wasting; superfluous use of these seemingly insignificant sheets are having a detrimental, cumulative impact on our lives, and on this planet. Paper and paper product production brings with it a very heavy carbon footprint. In fact, the EPA reported that production of pulp alone releases 39.1 million metric tons of green house gases.

That's a lot of CO2 folks.  Just sayin'.

Another shocking statistic: in the US, the average person uses over 500 pounds of paper per year. Yes: 500 pounds. That's pretty insane if you think about it?

The environmental impact is huge, but it is just the beginning. Even more shocking: an office can spend anywhere from 13 to 31 times initial cost of goods supporting and deposing of its paper products.  For instance, if there is anything confidential printed on the sheets, then they have to hire a company to securely dispose of the documents.

All of this begs the question: Why are we still using all this paper when there are so many alternatives? Smartphones, tablets, and laptops for instance all make recording and sharing information easy. And for those times that you want the freedom that comes from a pen and paper, whiteboards are a great solution. And if you need something more portable, you can always try a whiteboard notebook like the Wipebook. And with the latter mentioned dry erase products, you don't have to worry about your tablet dying during a class or meeting, and you don't have to feel guilty about using a truckload of paper either on temporary notes and doodles that will be disposed of. 

With these eco-friendly dry erase and whiteboard writing tools at your disposal - and so much at stake - maybe, just maybe, you can finally get away from all that unnecessary wasted paper usage.  The end result is this: it will save you money, and concurrently save the planet, one sheet at a time.