How to Reduce Printed Paper Waste

[LuisMB]

I suggest one idea which was very succesfull in the company where I was working 4 years ago: turn off all the prints twice per week.

maybe in a first view I could be seem a bad idea, but you had written before: almost the 50 % of the printed paper is waste.
Try .. you will see good results

[GreenQuality]

Survey a some employees to find out why they are printing hard copies. It may be a process requirement or other issue that can be addressed.
My company only purchases recycled paper and makes employees aware of aspects and impacts through our EMS (We recycle our paper too).
We also have a program that awards employees for efforts and actions implimented to reduce waste and reduce impact to the environment.
Setting up your printer to print both sides as a default setting is an easy change that can make a difference.

[Drew G]

In Reply to Parent Post by SteelMaiden

Respectfully, I find that anytime people start banning and rationing the use of something, you don't really foster a culture where the masses buy into the process. I've found that when we work with people to get them to come up with solutions themselves, we end up not only meeting the goals, but exceeding them. Foster a culture of "reduce, reuse, recycle" and pretty soon your team will push one another to greater accomplishments. Foster a police state and all you will get is grudging compliance, and people who look for ways to beat the system.

True SteelMaiden; also true of many things in life: punishment breeds aggression. Bringing your perspective above to the Cove is very insightful. Thanks.


Drew

[Helmut Jilling]

Set a goal to reduce paper and toner usage by 20%, promote and support the goal from management, measure and report the results and progress, and leave it to the ingenuity of each individual to see to getting it done.

[john.b]

One way to save ink while printing exactly the same pages is by switching fonts. I ran across this idea while reviewing "green" management text coming out, and Google turns up lots on it.

The most ink-stingy fonts are a bit thin looking, as you'd expect, but Times-Roman and Calibri save a lot over Arial.

Of course trying to go paperless is a lot better, and half of what is on my desk probably never really needed to be printed.

[JaneB]

In Reply to Parent Post by Skins

Aside from the environmental impact, you old folks need to give up the paper. It is not nearly as efficient as you make it out to be, it takes longer to file hard-copies than electronic documents, and it's an excellent way to have document control.

Agree strongly that it's excellent for doc control and quicker to file electronically, assuming you have good electronic management practices of course! I like lots of stuff electronically.

But I don't fully agree that 'old folks need to give up the paper'. And I can speak from experience, as I is one.
One issue younger folks don't appreciate is that as you age, unfortunately eyesight often deteriorates and makes online stuff harder to read. Hardcopy is easier.
Also, plenty of research says that reading and processing information online is significantly slower than for hardcopy. Perhaps this may change if a/screen resolution improves and b/as a species, we adapt, but still the case at the moment.

[Skins]

In Reply to Parent Post by JaneB

Agree strongly that it's excellent for doc control and quicker to file electronically, assuming you have good electronic management practices of course! I like lots of stuff electronically.

But I don't fully agree that 'old folks need to give up the paper'. And I can speak from experience, as I is one.
One issue younger folks don't appreciate is that as you age, unfortunately eyesight often deteriorates and makes online stuff harder to read. Hardcopy is easier.
Also, plenty of research says that reading and processing information online is significantly slower than for hardcopy. Perhaps this may change if a/screen resolution improves and b/as a species, we adapt, but still the case at the moment.

The old folks was meant as a bit of a joke. Good documentation practices are paramount, and technology isn't a solution/replacement for a well managed system.

I've been wearing bifocals since kindergarten (wicked strabismus and astigmatism), and I've never had a large amount of eyestrain, nor find it difficult to read from an LCD screen. This may be a "generational" difference.

I do prefer paper for a few items (photographs, schematics) from a resolution standpoint, so I can see your point. For processes and procedures, you might change your mind about the clarity if you were to try a higher res screen.

I'm curious about the comprehension research, I guess I'll look into it.

[JaneB]

In Reply to Parent Post by Skins

Good documentation practices are paramount, and technology isn't a solution/replacement for a well managed system.

Do agree! I've seen some absolute dogs of online things, including SharePoint which had simply turned into a mishmash of documents and links everywhere, which was far far worse than a shelf of manuals and even less usable.

Size of screen and resolution definitely makes a difference.

Don't get me wrong, I'm strongly in favour of online doco whenever and wherever possible, particularly for 'how to' stuff and procedures. Processes? Hmm... depends. If it's a complex one, unless it's well structured and broken down into layers, and hyperlinked to the detail, I'd probably rather see it in hardcopy.

And yes, this may well be a generational thing. In which case I"m perhaps 1/2 way between dodo and phoenix?
As a baby boomer I didn't grow up with computers nor expect to be 'wired' and online 24/7. But I more than happily adapted to them a long time ago. I favour online docs over hardcopy whenever and wherever possible. But spare me from reading something online if it's long and complex and needing careful thought- much rather hardcopy!

I think it was William Horton (an early guru of online writing) quoted up to 40% slower reading online, but I acknowledge he's possibly a little dated now. I did go looking for more recent research - but didn't on a quick look find anything more recent, though I did spend some time happily reading a number of excellent new articles on Jakob Nielsen's UseIt site - he's just excellent at usability research and translating that into clear guidelines for websites, online writing/structure, etc. Let me know if you find anything, & I'll look too.