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Going Green Isn't the Best Reason to Go Paperless After All
Green Technology Featured Articles
January 22, 2014

Going Green Isn't the Best Reason to Go Paperless After All

By Jacqueline Lee
Contributing Writer

Over 20 leading U.S. companies in the banking, telecommunications and utilities sectors have removed slogans like "Go paperless, go green" from webpages that try to direct customers into e-billing.


The removal is a result of a campaign by Two Sides, an initiative put together by a consortium of pulp, forestry, paper, pre press, finishing, press, publishing, printing, inks and chemical companies. Two Sides has a message for Americans: Paper is not a finite resource.

"Marketing messages like 'save trees' create a false impression that forests are a finite resource that is being destroyed instead of a renewable resource that is continuously replenished using sustainable forest management practices," said Two Sides in a statement. "In the U.S., we grow more trees than we harvest."

E-billing hasn't really caught on with Americans anyway. According to American Public Media's "Marketplace" radio broadcast, only 50 percent of Americans actually pay bills online.

I am obsessed with the paperless life, although I still use a paper planner because there's just  something about writing out and marking up my to-do list with a pen. I also use a paper notebook for journaling. However, most of my life is entirely paperless, mainly because going paperless eliminates clutter. Plus, in many cases, a paperless life costs less.

In addition to opting for e-billing, here are my top three keys to living a paperless life:

  1. Digital subscriptions. Stop subscribing to paper magazines and newspapers; get the digital editions instead. Digital subscriptions usually cost less, and you can easily read the content on your tablet, smartphone or laptop. You can also grab online articles and file them to read later using apps like Flipboard (News - Alert) and Pocket.
  2. Evernote. Evernote is a wondrous app for the paperless devotee. You can use the Evernote Web Clipper extension to clip webpages directly to your Evernote (News - Alert) notebooks. Also, you can email items into your notebooks using your individual Evernote email address. Instead of writing recipes on paper cards, snap a photo of the recipe and store it on Evernote. Evernote syncs across all of your devices, and unlike most apps, the free version is an extraordinarily good value. Check out this video that gives you an overview of how to use Evernote.
  1. Paperless office. Fall in love with Internet fax, Dropbox (News - Alert) document sharing and online document signing. Additionally, stop sending direct mail and switch to email marketing.

Going paperless means never having to dig through a desktop pile of paper again. I can't congratulate myself on going green, but I do congratulate myself on eliminating my filing cabinet.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker


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