Don't mourn the dream of the paperless office

Is your business still chasing the dream of the paperless office? Do you and your employees have a footer on all your emails saying “do you really need to print this email?” Do you allow people at their desks to read the news online because you believe it’s better for the environment than buying a newspaper every day? Are you considering buying yourself or maybe your staff an iPad in order to save paper?

If you do any of these things you can stop because if you are based in Europe, Martyn Eustace, from Two Sides, says that exploring and actively recycling paper then using print and paper may actually be the most sustainable medium available.

Let me explode some myths and present some surprising facts.

Myth 1: making paper destroys forests. In fact the opposite is true. European forests have grown by over 30% since 1950 and are increasing by an area four times the size of London every year.

Myth 2: paper is bad for the environment. Actually, paper is actually one of the few sustainable products. It is a natural and renewable crop and as young trees grow, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. A well managed forest, used and replanted, absorbs more carbon dioxide than a mature forest consisting of older trees.

Myth 3: you should only use 100% recycled paper but in fact, recycled fibres degrade after several uses so some virgin fibres will always be needed to keep the paper cycle going.

And on-line communication has a large and increasing environmental impact of its own. The worldwide network of servers standing by to deliver information to our power hungry computers is an enormous consumer of energy.

On-line billing and other electronic communication is not necessarily the environmentally preferable way to communicate and there many, young and old alike, who still prefer to manage their finances and check their expenditure using the clarity of printed material.

There are many more myths including the ones about paper having a high carbon footprint and consuming a lot of energy to produce, but it you look at the statistics carefully, the figures are surprisingly small.

So my message to business is, so long as you are conscientious about recycling, feel free to use and appreciate paper. Studies show that people absorb information better if they read it off paper rather than a computer screen and that the tactile quality of paper is a positive mood enhancer.

So, without being needlessly wasteful, enjoy paper, a renewable and sustainable resource, without guilt!

Comments are closed.

Don't mourn the dream of the paperless office

Latest Articles

Recent Comments