Okay, here's another one of those wacky mental images for you: Each year enough waste paper is thrown out to build a 12-foot-high wall all the way from Los Angeles to New York. Paper is the largest component of municipal solid waste, according to the environmental study group Inform, Inc. And office paper is the third largest source of waste paper, after corrugated cardboard and newspapers. Try these tactics for cutting back on paper use, along with other measures for making the workplace greener.
Control reproduction. Photocopying alone accounts for a quarter of all office paper use. To cut back, copy on both sides of a page and set up a central filing system that everyone can use, creating less demand for personal copies of important documents. Post announcements in a central location rather than in several different spots.
Fill the page. To fit more on each piece of paper, print single-spaced instead of double, make margins narrower and use smaller typefaces. A document that's printed on two sides, single-spaced, uses one-fourth the amount of paper eaten up by the same document printed on one side, double-spaced. It also takes less filing space and is cheaper to mail.
Eliminate fax cover sheets. Instead, slap on Post-it stickers that provide all the needed information on the document's first page.
Get the lead out. Buy yourself mechanical pencils with replacement graphite, and refillable pens as well.
Work on a laptop. These totable computers use 10 to 30 percent less energy than more powerful counterparts.
Start a recycling program. If your company doesn't have one, find out how to get one going. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the National Recycling Coalition, 1101 30th St. NW, Suite 305, Washington, DC 20007; or call (202) 625-6406.
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