Environmental Benefits of Adopting a Paperless Office

We’ve elaborated on the many in-office benefits of using a paperless office, but there are positive effects outside the office, as well. Paper manufacturing is destructive to the environment in many ways.

Paper Manufacturing’s Impact on the Environment

• Paper product manufacturing contributes to deforestation, climate change and greenhouse gases. Each of these three things negatively contributes to the environment.
• According to the American Forest & Paper Association, paper manufacturing is the third-largest user of fossil fuels worldwide.
• Think recycling is effective? Think again. Most recycled paper winds up in landfills. In fact, paper accounts for almost half the waste in landfills.
• Paper production produces a lot of pollution, because manufacturing releases gases like carbon dioxide.
• Besides the actual production of paper, printing inks and toners negatively impact the environment because they use environment-damaging materials.

Now think about how much paper you use in your office. How much are you contributing to harming the environment? Pulp mills, where the paper manufacturing process begins, pollute the air, water and land.

Worldwide consumption of paper continues to rise at rapid rates. Paper consumption rates have risen 400% the past 40 years. The paper you use goes beyond the paper in the printer. Do you have paper cups in your office? In the United States, at least 6.5 million trees are cut down yearly to make 16 billion paper cups for coffee consumption.

Part of the paper-making process is deforestation, the cutting down of trees for other uses. Deforestation is a major environmental problem facing our planet. Consider some of the negative effects of deforestation:

Negative Effects of Deforestation

• Deforestation is a contributor to global warming. Fewer trees means more carbon dioxide and other unwanted gases in the atmosphere. Global warming is an issue which could drastically alter the planet’s habitability in future years.
• Deforestation causes carbon dioxide to linger in the atmosphere. This bears repeating because it is a major problem for the reasons described above.
• Deforestation makes flooding and landslides more likely. When trees are removed, there is less water available in the soil and groundwater. This means there is less water for the remaining trees. These problems compound themselves with less-cohesive soil, leading to more floods and landslides.
• Deforestation is damaging for species that live in the targeted areas. It is estimated 52,000 species per year become extinct from deforestation.

For paperless office solutions, contact Forms R Us. We can be reached at (800) 955-6284.

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