When it comes to saving paper in your office, you can do small things that add up to significant changes. For instance, think twice about printing from your favourite web page, adjust your margins or font to make it fit on one page and reconsider sending corporate holiday cards. Although it is a nice thought, it has been estimated that 10,000 trees are cut down annually in China to make holiday cards.
Thinking both big and small, reducing paper consumption is one of the easiest green changes you can start making immediately.
Did You Know?
• A typical business office generates about 1.5 pounds or almost 0.7 kg of wastepaper per employee per day.
• 80% of paper from office printers is for draft purposes.
• Paper waste (commercial and residential) accounts for over 40% of waste sent to landfills.
• Every recycled tonne of paper saves approximately 17 trees.
• Paper manufacturing is the third largest user of fossil fuels worldwide.
• Recycled paper requires 64% less energy than making paper from virgin wood pulp.
• A single sheet of virgin pulp white office paper requires one litre of water in the manufacturing stage.
• One tonne of regular office paper (about 40 cartons of copier paper) requires the cutting of 19 trees.
Remember reducing your paper consumption in the office saves more than just trees. It saves natural resources and energy. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Finally it reduces the need for new landfills.
(Source: iD2 Communications – Facts about Paper and Waste)
(Source: Royal Bank of Canada – Paper Waste)