To stop using paper is like quitting smoking: it requires effort, will and patience, but in the long run the effects are very beneficial. You will be more efficient in your day to day and the trees of the world will thank you. My grandfather (in the photo) did not have a lot of opportunities, but today it is possible. Technology can help you.
This article aimed to give advice and ideas so that you put aside papers once and for all and join the zero paper club. If your tablet has already become an extension of your body or if you only read your e-book, surely reading this will not bring you many new features but it will surely strengthen your behavior.
In recent years, I have been reducing my paper consumption, until nowadays it’s practically zero. It happened almost without me realizing it, but always with technology as a traveling companion. At work, home, during my leisure time, on a trip or practically in all life situations, paper has become totally unnecessary.
Let's go step by step.
At home
In order to keep a paperless home, you have to stop reading magazines, newspapers and all paper books. There are also other issues for which you can stop using paper at home (bags, napkins, etcetera), but they are not the focus of this article.
"To be paperless, you have to stop reading magazines, newspapers and all paper books."
To read magazines and newspapers, traditional media apps and digital kiosks for iPad or Android perfectly perform their function. I have been reading the news directly on the web and social networks for a long time and I don’t buy newspapers or magazines anymore.
At this stage, where you can take better advantage of technology to reduce your paper consumption is in the world of books. A fact that still surprises me is the low percentage that represents the total sales of e-books to that of books, which is only 5% in Spain (15% in Europe or USA). It seems like piracy has a lot to do with this. I know many people that likes reading and recognizing without any shame that they downloaded illegally everything they read (the same happens with music, movies, series) without taking into account that with that behavior all they get is that each time, there are fewer writers and lowest paid.
I think that nowadays buying paper books only makes sense if you are a romantic ("I like the paper to be in my hands"), if you do it purely for decorative reasons ("That book looks great on my living room shelf") or if you can’t find the e-book you were looking for (it happens few times but there are still exceptions). Not even the main limitation of the e-book, which is the need for energy to use, is a reason for not going the other way, because reading papers also needs light.
To me, e-book has clear advantages on paper:
Your books always move with you: in an average e-book with 4 GB of memory there are about 3,000 books.
Non-stop reading: if you have your devices synchronized, you can continue reading on your mobile phone wherever you want, even if you have left your e-book resting on your bedside table.
Test before you buy: with the option “download sample”, you can read the first pages for free without the book dealer having a poor face.
Underline unpainted: you can take notes without damaging the book and in a couple of clicks you have it available in an editable format in your e-mail (this is one of the Kindles’ features that I find more useful, especially if you like reading essay or management books).
Where one, two or three can read: you can connect multiple devices in such a way that with a single Kindle account many people can read the same book at a time (something extremely difficult with a paper book, right?).
And finally from economic view point: it’s much cheaper to read in electronic format than on paper, unless everything you read is from the municipal library or that your annual reading is limited to the summer books you read on the beach. E-books are 50% cheaper than paper. Taking into account the average price of a book in Spain (14.6 euros) the initial investment in an e-book reader is amortized with the purchase of 10 and 15 digital books (the average price of the digital book is around seven euros).
At work
Once you have stopped using paper at home, the next step to follow will be to stop printing documents and so doing, taking notes in electronic format at the office.
For a whole decade, I was responsible for my company’s annual report and, consequently, the deforestation of some trees. I so much printed that I was known in the reprographics service and was always put on the red carpet each time I passed by.
First of all, to stop reading on papers (reports, documents, presentations, etcetera) it is necessary to have a decent screen. It can be large and connected to a PC or medium size like the iPad. I've gotten used to working with both of them, side by side.
Secondly, you have to get used to document modification (especially PDF, which are the main documents to go through the printer) directly in electronic format. Not everyone knows that the Adobe Acrobat with which you normally open the documents allows you to make annotations, strikethroughs, delete text, etcetera. Also the application OneDrive (the hard drive in the Microsoft cloud) allows to make easily modifications on PDF. But my favorite is GoodReader for iPad, which does pretty much everything you want with PDF files and then allows you to forward or store them with great ease.
Thirdly, are the notes you take in meetings, conferences, to remember tasks, etcetera. Have you ever lost the notebook where you have it all signed up? How many times have you forgotten it just the day you needed it? How many times have you pointed out something and then you don't remember where?
In one of the last big meetings I've ever attended, more than 60% of the people took notes on paper support, therefore there is a great potential for productivity improvement. Because beyond saving on notebooks or folios and the contribution to the environment, taking notes in electronic format is a matter of efficiency.
"Apps like Evernote or OneNote (Office 365) allows all your notes to be stored in the cloud automatically."
Applications like Evernote or OneNote (Office 365) allows all your notes to be stored in the cloud automatically, which are accessible from any device (mobile, PC, tablet), search all your notes, have everything perfectly sorted by notepads or folders, share the information with another colleague immediately...
For me the revolution came when I bought a keyboard for the iPad, so I went from using it only for leisure to become an essential working tool. Even if you like writing with pencil, both iOS and Android applications are able to interpret your lyrics and search between your annotations (as long as your handwriting is not like the medical prescriptions, of course...).
Others
Technology can help you to consume less paper in many other areas: the shopping list, airline tickets, train, public transport in some cities of the world, cash, etcetera. Once you get used to using less paper, there will be no turning back.
If you have reached the end, I hope this article has helped you and above all, I hope you have not printed to read it!
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