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Think global, act local, right? Julie Grundy lives the challenge.

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4 ways to reduce your paper impact

Printer with recycling symbol

Credit: iStockphoto

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Of course, reducing the amount of bills you get in the mail isn't the only way to lighten your paperwork impact. Last week we talked about cutting back on junk mail, but there's plenty of other options too.

  • Cancel your Yellow Pages delivery and switch to their online version instead. Scroll to the bottom of this Sensis page to send them an email requesting that you be taken off the delivery list for either the Yellow Pages, White Pages, or both.
  • Reduce the amount of pages you print at home and work by changing to double-sided printing. Usually your printer will have an option for this, but if not, check out these instructions on how to manually print double-sided.
  • Or print things you need to keep as PDF files, not paper copies. There's plenty of free software to do this for you: I like CutePDF, but there are many to choose from that do a great job. They just add "PDF" to the list of printers available to you when you click the Print button on a program or website, and create a file that you can save.
  • Cancel some magazine or newspaper subscriptions (but keep G Magazine and pass it on to a friend when you're done reading it! It's printed on recycled paper after all.)

Don't forget to recycle or compost any paper you can't avoid!

Just this week I had an unexpected opportunity to cut back on my mail. My old high school now offers an online (PDF) version of their alumni newsletter. I signed up to it and can now see what everyone's up to without creating more paper waste.

I also found out that a business I hold shares in offers online notifications and reports. This is great - not only does it reduce the amount of huge reports they send around the country, the information is now searchable. Less time spent leafing through them looking for the information I want, now I can just get right to the point.

If you've got more suggestions about ways to cut back on paper waste, let us know in the comments!

Comments

Thanks, I'm on a debating team that is AGAINST junk mail being banned, but people don't understand that there are other ways to recycle! This site has lightened my spirits :D

You can put a "no junk mail" sticker on your mailbox. We get around 40 kilos of junk mail every year. That's two bags of cement. If you really need a catalogue fix, go to www.cataloguecentral.com.au. They have most of the major retailer catalogues online, and they are carbon neutral. 40 kilos across 7,000,000 households is a pretty big carbon footprint I would have thought - especially when the majority does not get read.

Great article, thank you!

I love finding ways to reduce paper usage and I linked to this page on our blog today to help spread the word.

I particularly like your tip for manually printing on both sides of the paper.

We keep a scrap drawer for any junk mail which finds its way into the house. Even though we've cancelled junk mail, there is still the odd piece that comes in - these scraps are used for writing shopping lists or taking telephone messages.

The other important this to remember is that if you recycle paper, you close the loop by purchasing recycled paper products :)

MrsGreen, I keep a scrap drawer for my paper at work - great minds think alike! I don't often have to print anything, but when someone gives me handouts I keep them to reuse for my own notes later on.

Another site worth considering is http://www.lasoo.com.au as a great alternative to viewing retailer and grocery shopping catalogues online.