How to Save Paper in the Home or Office

You can reuse those piles of paper and watch the savings add up.

There are many opportunities to save paper in the home or office. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that more than 2 billion books, 350 million magazines and 24 billion newspapers are published each year and that the American average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year -- that's 4 million tons. There are easy things you can do to reuse or recycle paper products, and you also can take steps to eliminate paper use -- such as receiving electronic statements from your financial institutions.

Instructions

1. Participate in home or office recycling programs. Set aside newspaper, magazines, junk mail and office paper to recycle.

2. Reuse cardboard shipping boxes. Peel off the old labels, and cross out any printing on the box with a black permanent marker. This will save paper and save you some money next time you need to ship a package.

3. Sign up for online billing and statements instead of mailings. This will save paper both for you and the company sending the bill. Some organizations even offer incentives for customers to sign up for electronic statements.

4. Sign up online billpay through your bank. The service will save you sending a check in the mail to pay your bills. Many companies also accept electronic transfers to pay bills.

5. Choose the online subscription option for magazines and newspapers; do not renew print subscriptions.

6. Don't print out email, or cut and paste to combine a couple of messages onto one page to save paper.

7. Print on both sides of the paper. Double-sided printing effectively cuts your paper usage in half.

8. Reuse paper that's been printed only on one side. You can cut the pages up for scrap paper, such as for grocery lists.

References

• California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery: Office Paper Reduction Quick Tips
• Do Something!: Top 10 "Paper-Less" Tips
• Clean Air Council: Waste and Recycling Facts