Sustainability: business, life, environment

Businesses and individuals across the country are looking for ways to cut costs during these challenging economic times.  Equally important is the growing desire for businesses and individuals to bring eco awareness into their daily lives.  The one thing we touch every day is paper.  Paper and paperboard products constitute the largest portion of our waste stream.  Reducing our paper use presents the opportunity to reduce the waste flowing into landfills and save trees at the same time.
 
As a personal consultant in the area of creating sustainable lifestyles, here are some of the benefits I share with clients in the pursuit of reducing paper.
 
•    increase organization and productivity
•    eliminate storage space
•    reduce costs
•    improve disaster recovery protection for legal documents
•    reduces your environmental impact
 
See which ideas you can use today to reduce your paper usage: 

1. Use a memory stick or email to transfer your files and documents from home and work. 
2. Replace your paper planner with an electronic one. PDA's: Blackberry and smart phones all have contact management capabilities.  Take it a step further and close the reuse/recycle loop and purchase a used one from eBay or Craig’s list.
3. For birthday cards and notifications, try sending an e-card or using an online party planning tool
4. Share your photos online
5. Commit to all online banking:  statements, bill, and payments
6. File your taxes electronically; if receiving a refund, elect to have it automatically deposited to your bank account
7. Empty file cabinets: scan and store electronically, use the paper as scratch paper then recycle it
8. Read your books online: subscribe to e-books
9. Stay current by reading blogs to get up to date information
10. Use Digital Post it notes
11. Online e-zines, blogs, and PDF versions of printed magazines are becoming more and more popular, both as a replacement for and a supplement to printed publications
12. Utilize social media tools (Facebook, digg, StumbleUpon) to share information: favorite websites, cool video's, and even gift ideas
13. Learn 50 new ways to use your iPod for more than music
14. Continuing education: look into online education and online classrooms
15. Stay in touch with friends and family via email, Facebook, or start your own blog.

 
As a personal consultant, it's gratifying to see a client embrace a sustainable lifestyle and commit to reducing paper.  However, remember this, backup  your electronic files! 
 
Incorporating sustainability concepts of reducing paper contributes to living a sustainable lifestyle that not only helps you become better organized and more productive, but also helps reduce the largest portion of our waste stream.