It’s been 50 years since marketers coined the term “paperless office” but it’s still not a reality. Businesses today probably still can’t go completely paperless, but here are 10 tips for reducing your company’s dependence on paper!
1. Institute monitoring to track paper use. The first step towards reducing usage is to understand how much paper you are using on a monthly basis. Track the number of pages printed per person. Many printers and MFPs have page counters built in. Make a note each month of starting and ending numbers. Next, put in a printer log for each machine in your office and have employees track their usage. Compare this number to your overall copies per month from your machines. This will give you a baseline number.
2. Request paperless statements from banks and service providers like the phone company. Request vendors to bill you via email. Make an effort to pay bills online as opposed to issuing and mailing paper checks.
3. Implement a recycling plan. Low tech but effective, a recycling program will raise awareness of paper use. Institute an email signature policy to help reduce output.
4. Eliminate physical signed printed documents, particularly internal ones. Take as many non-essential documents online as possible.
5. Eliminate faxing from your culture. Replace forms with fill-able PDF documents submitted via email or the web.
6. If your vendors or clients insist on using a fax machine, sign up for an online fax provider that will email any incoming faxes directly to your inbox.
7. Cut your print output in half by printing two sided documents.
Reducing your paper consumption isn’t a one-time act. It’s a series of small manageable changes that when combined can really make a difference. Make your business more sustainable, cut costs and take a step towards being a paperless office. It’s a smart business move whose time has come!
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