1000 Flowers for the Planet - #28 Go Paperless

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #28 Go Paperless

Firstly let me clarify that I mean ‘not using paper in the first instance’ as opposed to ‘avoiding having a piece of paper’. Many of the websites I’ve read to gather ideas for this Flower talk about avoiding paper. For example, one suggestion is to take a snapshot (I suppose that means a photo on your smart phone) of a receipt when you make a purchase and not take the receipt home. Another was to scan a document for electronic storage and then throw away the document. This does not prevent the creation of paper usage in the first instance and defeats the objective. In fact, to present ideas such as these as environmental solutions is irresponsible.

Let’s make this one a challenge. For one week (two if you can and a lifetime would be even better), unplug the printer, remove all pieces of paper, pens and pencils and put them away for now, then see how you go NOT using paper. See if you can find solutions to the problems you think you face. Yesterday’s Flower will help.

Also look at every paper item that comes into your house uninvited and think of a way to prevent it happening in the future. If you’re holding something you don’t have time to read, ask whoever delivered it to you to remove you from their database or cancel the subscription. It will feel so much better not to have all that paperwork around demanding your attention unnecessarily. De-clutter. It will feel good.

Do you really have time to read the newspaper? What percentage of all those pages would you actually read? Can you hear about what’s happening around you in some other way – radio, TV?

Try to feel sad when you put a piece of paper in your recycling bin – just for a while to see if you can change your mindset. If you feel sad, perhaps you can take the next step to thinking about how that piece of paper came into your life in the first place and then how you could have avoided it.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.