Reduce paper use

As a nation, the US went through more than 85 million tons of paper and paper products in 2006.[1] Corporate America accounts for a grande portion of this number with the average worker using 10,000 sheets of copy paper annually.[2] It's no surprise, therefore that paper makes up 90 percent of all office waste by weight.[3]

Worldwide forest ecosystems are critical to maintaining life on earth. They filter the air, stabilize climate by absorbing CO₂, and provide habitat for 90 percent of all land-dwelling plants and animals.[4] The most effective way for offices to protect forests is to reduce overall paper consumption. This can be done in various ways, including simply reducing page margins — using 3/4 inch margins on all sides of a piece of paper saves 19 reams of paper (or 1.14 trees) on a ton of paper. If everyone in the US used these margins more than 6 million trees annually would be saved.[5]

Additional paper reduction options include:

• Becoming a paperless office
• Setting printers and copiers to print double-sided
• Reusing paper

Footnotes

1. US Environmental Protection Agency - Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006
2. Cutting Paper - What is this website about?
3. City of Fort Collins - Office Waste
4. Natural Resources Defense Council - Good Wood: How Forest Certification Helps the Environment
5. Change the Margins - Stats: How Much Will I Really Save?