It might be a surprising fact that as much as 26% of municipal waste is made up of paper or paperboard. Whether it's newspaper or paper packaging, paper is used everywhere and usually ends up in landfill waste. As well as the problem of disposing paper, making it alone is a huge environmental issue for our era. However, in an increasingly digital world, it doesn't have to be that way.
Many people and organisations are waking up to this environmental problem and are trying to move towards a paperless society by reducing paper waste. It's not as easy as it seems to let go of an important and necessary part of our human lives. In this article we provide 3 small ways you can save the trees and reduce your own personal paper waste!
1. Be consumer conscious
Be aware of what you're buying and stick to products packaged with recycled paper materials or paper which has come from sustainable sources. When you do need to dispose of paper, simply make sure you reuse or recycle it! Reduce your usage of disposable paper cups when getting your daily caffeine fix, instead invest in a reusable coffee cup available almost anywhere on the high-street.
2. Think before you print
When you're at work with unlimited supplies of paper, and you never have to pay the bill for costly ink cartridges, it's easy to print documents that are unnecessary. Next time you go to hit the print button, ask yourself whether it's necessary. Sometimes it might be possible to view it onscreen instead. You can even update your email signature to advocate reducing paper waste to your coworkers. You'll be getting lots of kudos in the office for being so green!
3. Subscribe Online
There's nothing more stylish than ditching the scruffy, dogeared magazines and awkwardly sized newspapers in favour of a chic and portable tablet to read your news magazines on instead. That extends to the bookworms among us with extensive novel collections, next time you're thinking about getting stuck into a new read think twice about buying the physical copy. You'll be able to find any book you fancy online and what's more, eBooks are usually a fraction of the price of paper ones!
