Have you ever thought about how much paper you use in a typical day? Between receipts, work and home offices, and junk mail, it can really add up. What can we do to eliminate such waste?
REDUCE
Just say no...
to ATM receipts, gas station receipts, or any other automated receipt where they actually give you the choice. These little pieces of paper can amount to a lot. Less is more.
Print on less paper
When you print from home or work, think about 1) whether you really need to print it, 2) whether you could print on both sides of the paper, and 3) if you could use already used scrap paper instead. This will save you money in the long run by not having to buy as much paper.
Use recycled paper
This goes for printer paper, journals, notebook paper, etc. Less energy used to make virgin paper and it increases the demand for recycled products.
Eliminate junk mail
How? Visit:
www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/
http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm
http://www.donotmail.org/
Stop the catalogs!
Shop online instead. Call the customer service number on the back of the catalog and ask them to take you off their mailing list. Pottery Barn and their affiliates seem to be the ones that are delivered the most often, but there are several others out there.
Borrow instead of buying magazines
They have the exact same copies that are on the newstands at the library. And they're free! I believe you can check out the older versions but have to read the latest ones at the library. But it eliminates waste, fuel to deliver these magazines, and saves you money!
Online newspapers!
Unless you love getting the Sunday paper for the comics, coupons, or just to enjoy with your coffee, read your headlines on the computer. Or find other uses for your used newspaper, such as for packing boxes that you ship, or paper hats and paper airplanes for the kids. Use comics to wrap kids presents. Finish it off with a pretty ribbon and it makes a beautiful presentation. And when you're done, RECYCLE IT!!
Paperless billing
Pay your bills online. You can do this through your bank and with the company directly. This will eliminate those bills getting mailed to your home (less fuel), or having to go to the post office to get stamps and mail them back (less fuel). It's less paper to dispose of and less paper for those companies to have to produce.
REUSE
If you want to take it one step further in your environmental efforts, reuse as much paper as you can. I cut my letter sized paper in 4 and use that for scrap paper to make grocery lists, etc. I use a lot of the paper from flyers or regular mail for my kids to draw on. And then, of course, I use some scrap paper for printing things like coupons that I find online.
RECYCLE
Once you're done with your used printer paper, junk mail, and regular mail, please recycle it! Even your phone books are recyclable so don't just toss it so it can end up in the landfill. Don't forget all of the paper in your shredder! Every recycling center accepts paper.
More websites:
About paper in our society:
http://ecology.com/features/paperchase/
About the environmental benefits of recycled paper:
http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=24437
Try these tips in order to use less paper, or at least dispose of it in a more responsible way. Less paper, less clutter in your home. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
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I was just thinking about the phone book yesterday and how much paper they use to make each book. I usually get all of my numbers online so why don't they give us a choice on whether or not we want to receive a phone book?
ReplyDeleteClick on one of the links for how to reduce junk mail to find out how to opt-out of receiving the phone book as well. Very empowering to know you can make a difference on what gets sent to you, and eventually, what gets produced.
ReplyDelete