It is easy to cut back on paper at home and work!
> Send digital greeting cards. Everyone loves to receive a card. It’s a sign of affection and thoughtfulness, yet the greeting card business uses a lot of paper. Go digital for your cards. I did at Christmas time, except for the small handful of friends and family that do not use email. Instead of hours addressing and licking envelopes, and a lot of money for cards and postage, I spent less than an hour copy/pasting email addresses into a website. No paper used, no money spent, and the recipients were just as happy! I saved a few trees, too!
> Read the news online. I don’t buy the local paper anymore, because I can read it online. All newspapers now have an RSS feed, which is like a big bookmark system. I have all my news sites in Google Reader, and I can skim them over several times a day. I subscribe to two magazines, and I may let them lapse when the subscriptions run out. There is no reason to read hard copy newspapers and magazines anymore.
> Read books from the library, buy used, or share with friends. I have been a library fan since I was a kid. I love books, info and adventures. My problem with the library is I like to read in the bathtub, so I frequently buy used books. There used to be a second-hand bookstore here that let you buy a book, then return it for another, like a library. I was in there often! See if stores near you will do this. I buy books from Amazon for a dollar, pay a few bucks shipping, and have a used book for little output. My personal problem with this is shipping – not so green – but there is a trade-off with every green action. I sell used books on Amazon, too, so I’m part of the problem on both ends, but then again, I’m also part of the solution.
Get an e-reader. I don’t have one. I spend enough time in front of a computer screen during the day, I don’t want to do my recreational reading on one, too. And I like to read in the tub! I also like to underline and make notes in my books, so an e-reader won’t work for me. I do love pen and paper!
> Reuse paper printed on one side. If I am printing something out for my own information, like an article I want to make notes on or a receipt for my bookkeeping, I use the backside of a page that’s printed. I have a stack of these at work – there is a lot of paperwork in real estate. If those pages start to pile up, I staple them together creating a scratch pad. Frequently, this stack grows faster than I can use it, which made me see how much paper is used and wasted in the world every day. I am very conservative with resources, and paper even piles up for me! That revelation made me more determined to cut back on paper.
Of course, paper I do not use gets recycled or burned in the woodstove. A ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees. I hope this motivates you to recycle.
> Read my Eco-living Tips post about digital banking.
> Buy recycled paper whenever you can – copy paper, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, greeting cards (if you must buy them). Make sure there is Post-consumer Waste Content on the label. The higher that number, the more paper is staying out of the landfills. Some products are 100% PCW, but most are 35% and above.
