Towards a Paperless Office

Megan Prusynski — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:33:21 +0000

The paperless office idea emerged along with the personal computer, its premise being that someday in the future, we will no longer need to use paper because everything will be in a digital format. While the truly paperless office may still be a myth and a seemingly impossible goal, it is still something we can move towards in our business operations. Paper and paperboard products constitute the largest portion of our waste stream, so reducing our paper use and recycling paper materials has a lot of potential to reduce the waste flowing into landfills and save trees at the same time.

While planning my business, I have been trying to find a few ways I can be a nearly paperless operation. I already send digital PDF files for invoices, agreements, and proofs rather than sending my clients paper documents. I use digital signatures for contracts, communicate via e-mail or phone, and avoid printing anything that I don’t absolutely need to. Still, my office is hardly paperless and there’s a lot more I plan to do as I formalize my practices and launch my business. Below are some suggestions for going paperless.

Buying from the Bulk Bin Saves More Than Just Money

Beth Bader — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:28:44 +0000

For every food dollar, the farmer or grower generally makes only about nineteen cents. The majority of our food dollars, 81 cents, goes to processing, packaging, advertising and transport (USDA Economic Research Service). You can save on some of these costs as well as help reduce the EPA-estimated annual amount of 80 million tons of packaging waste by buying from the bulk bins.

Bulk aisles usually offer a wide variety of beans, legumes, nuts, flours, grains, herbs and spices, nut butters, oils, pastas, dried fruits and even snack foods. Without the added costs of advertising and packaging, these staples can be purchased at a much more affordable cost — important as we all see our grocery bills increase lately.

(Recipe for Real Oatmeal and tips on bulk buying after the jump.)

Green Options » reduce waste

Towards a Paperless Office

Buying from the Bulk Bin Saves More Than Just Money