Why you should go paperless in 2013
January 3, 2013
(Credit: Janto Dreijer/Wikimedia Commons)
Are you still printing things out? Really?
Amazingly, the average office worker still uses about 10,000 sheets of paper per year, the EPA says.
To make a new push for a really paperless office, the “Paperless Coalition,” which includes Google Drive, HelloFax, Manilla, HelloSign, Expensify, Xero and Fujitsu ScanSnap, has launched a new campaign to get businesses to go paperless to save “time, money and trees,” TechCrunch reports.
“For the first time, it’s easy to sign, fax, and store documents without ever printing a piece of paper,” says Joseph Walla, HelloFax founder and CEO.
“It’s finally fast and simple to complete paperwork and expense reports, to manage accounting, pay bills and invoice others. The paperless office is here — we just need to use it.”
If you want to go paperless in 2013, you can take a pledge on paperless2013.org, which will also sign you up for the group’s monthly email newsletter.
Comments (10)
by Jim Mooney
One reason to not go entirely paperless is it’s Really Hard to hack paper.
by Don Berry
I’ve been doing all my graphics projects, mainly book design and illustration, completely digitally for a decade, and I recently purchased a tablet (Samsung, because of the precise, pressure sensitive pen) that has allowed me to begin keeping my handwritten journal digitally as well as create complete artworks with various apps. Tons of paper and other files and materials are no longer piling up and I can more efficiently use my studio space. I love the digital age. Even if I don’t make it to the singularity, I am grateful to be able to take advantage of the technology available to me…it’s already a miraculous new world!
by Frances
Well until they create computer screens that are as easy on the eyes as paper is, I can’t see anyone really going totally paperless. Plus I agree with asiwei about ease of sorting.. You just can’t get an overview on a computer.
by asiwel
The idea of totally paperless has always been ridiculous. Paper is a very good and useful thing. If you have much to sort out and make sense of, sitting on the floor surrounded by stacks of stuff you can easily handle, feel, sort, and understand is sometimes the only (efficient) way … Imagine scanning, renaming, saving, and sorting a year’s worth of debit or credit card receipts on a computer ( or worse, just ignoring or throwing these away, with only a line in some electronic bank statement to show they even existed and not what they were for). Of course the ideas of organizing and only handling paper (or a computer pdf file or photo) one time are not ridiculous at all – very good, in fact. And, furthermore, where possible (email, pdfs, etc) most (well, lots of) people and businesses already save tremendous amounts of paper using electronic filing and record-keeping. But building really useful electronic databases (that are sustainable over years) is not easy, even today.
by Smb12321
It’s all a matter of economic – like recycling, alternative energy and smart devices. When the price can compete with existing technology and the first few pockets of buyers emerge, the conversion is easy. except for nostalgia there should be no need for new “paper” in an office with electronic “paper”.
by Walter Baltzley
I predicted back in 2001 that the world would NOT go fully paperless until 8 X 11 inch, high-resolution displays dropped to a price-point under $50…making them affordable enough that the average person can own 3 or 4, and can easily replace them when they break.
by josdorpjossie
It’s not about the price of the displays. It’s about having the right cheap software for your puspose. The company I work for is part in the automation of trading. The costs have dropped with a like factor 100 over the last 30 years, but still for small businesses it is not always cost effective.
by Eddie G
The paper use and waste from the average person is miniscule in comparison to the government and law agencies across the country. We use handfulls of paper when having to work with large quantities, but a typical proposal from a law firm or government entitiy prints out reams of paper at a time easily. This is not a single printing either, but multiple prints to go to groups of people and/or committees. Do they go paperless? No. The use of paper from regular people is nothing in comparison.
by asiwel
Well, yes. This is certainly true …
by wayne
Just look at how many pages Obamacare is.