22 ways to go paper-less for Earth Day

Whether you work at an office or at home, it’s important to think about the impact you have on the earth and our environment – especially when it comes to paper consumption.  Consider:

• According to the EPA, Americans throw away 71.6 million tons of paper each year, accounting for 40% of the total waste produced annually in the United States.

• The paper industry is the 4th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions among U.S. manufacturing industries.

• Worldwide consumption of paper has risen by 400% in the past 40 years.  This has contributed significantly to widespread deforestation, with 35% of harvested trees being used for paper manufacture.

Want to help?  In honor of Earth Day (April 22), here are 22 ways to start going paper-less:

1. 1. 1. Unsubscribe from catalogs and junk mail by using an app like PaperKarma or visiting Catalog Choice on the web.
      2. How long has it been since you actually looked up a phone number in the Yellow Pages?  Stop getting your phone book in the mail by signing up on https://www.yellowpagesoptout.com/.
      3. Opt out of all those pre-screened credit card and insurance offers that are flooding your mailbox by going to optoutprescreen.com.
      4. Use a cloud based app like Evernote to capture all the bits of random information that you want to remember instead of having it written on sticky notes or memo pads.
      5. Get financial and bank statements sent to you online rather than on paper. This not only helps the environment by reducing paper waste, but also reduces the amount of mail you have to open and process – and it’s more secure than having financial information sitting in a physical mailbox.
      6. Instead of printing a document such as a bill or financial statement, save it as a PDF in an electronic folder or in the cloud on Dropbox or Box.
      7. Or even better, use a secure website like FileThis to automatically retrieve bills and statements and have them organized and stored in Evernote or Dropbox, or in the secure FileThis Cloud.
      8. Use a coupon app instead of clipping or printing paper coupons. Most major retailers (including CVS, Staples, and many others) make coupons available on their apps these days.
      9. Pay your bills electronically through your bank, which not only avoids paper waste but also saves money on checks, envelopes and stamps.
      10. Don’t print out information that you only need temporarily, such as emails. If you want to be able to refer to an email quickly, flag it and look it up on your smartphone, or create email folders by topic and archive them for future reference.
      11. Use Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze on your smartphone to get directions instead of printing them out at home.
      12. Use a grocery list app like Grocery IQ to keep track of shopping needs.  This can be shared with family members to make sure everyone is on the same paperless page.
      13. Take quick notes using IOS Notes or other similar app.
      14. Use a digital task list like Wunderlist or Remember The Milk to keep your To Do’s synced and up to date.
      15. Use an app for movie tickets instead of printing them at home.
      16. Don’t print out boarding passes and risk losing them – use an app like Apple Wallet to receive and store your boarding passes electronically. Here’s how to get the most out of Wallet.
      17. Use Venmo to pay your friends instead of paper checks. Your college-aged kids will know what this is!
      18. For the paper that does make it into your home, scan it with a simple and versatile scanner like the Fujitsu ScanSnap.
      19. Use an electronic calendar like Google Calendar or Apple’s iCal instead of a paper one to keep track of your schedule and appointments.
      20. Forget using address books with innumerable crossed-out old addresses – Google contacts and Apple contacts are great alternatives that are always handy.
      21. Read your magazines on an app like Flipboard – the layout is beautiful and you can save articles for future reference using Pocket.
      22. When you do use paper, reduce your impact on the environment by buying recycled paper.

Even if you try out one or two of these suggestions, you’ll be doing a lot to help Mother Earth – and we all want our planet to be healthy for a long time to come!

Want to learn more about going paper-less?

Attend my free workshop “Get Started on Going Paperless,” Thursday, October 27, 7-9 p.m. at Hera Hub DC

Click here to learn more and to sign up