The Argument for Paper?

Paper has gotten a bad rap over the years, and remembering the jam, tea and coffee stains, the dog-ear pages, and the impact on our rainforests, you might easily be lead to think we'd better off without paper in the office?

But, if you think paper-less is better for the environment, maybe you have been somewhat misguided?

Manufacturing electronic products also creates a carbon footprint, plus of course, you need energy to power them, and as new technology changes so fast there is an ever-growing mountain of out-dated discarded electronics to deal with, so paper-less may not have as low an impact on the environment as you first thought!

Paper is one of our most recyclable commodities and although you might have heard claims to the contrary the paper-making process is sustainable. Also the life-cycle of paper is easier to track than work on a computer.

If we want our office to run smoothly we all need easy access to our important documents, and as our business grows, so do our records. So, what to do we do with them? Convert them into digital form?

Some of you might insist that you have a paper-less office, this is not the case, you can only be paper-light and reduce your usage, because somewhere within your organisation hard copies must be kept. 

As per the Government Document Retention Policy There are many documents that need to be kept in hard copy, and large penalties can be enforced for non-compliance. Documents like corporate, insurance, financial, tax, and personnel records, plans, and even charity donations, many need to be kept in hard copy for as many as 3, 5 or 7 years and others might need to be kept permanently. 

A Lack of Concrete Information

There have been many cases, which have been thrown out of court because hard copies were not available. Why, because digital documents can easily be tampered with, and words inserted or removed, thus changing the whole concept of the original.

Paper is one of the oldest forms of communication and has been around for longer than we can remember.

Long before there were books, email, or even newspapers, the Egyptians came up with a way to record history. They designed their own paper called papyrus from reeds. The word 'paper' comes from the Egyptian word 'papyrus' which means "that which belongs to the house". 

Paper may seem antiquated in today's world, but it's just so much more usable and creative than a computer, it’s mobile, light and doesn’t hurt your eyes, and you can't doodle on the margins of your computer when you're bored in that all day sales meeting. It’s also great for planning, problem solving, brainstorming and much more.................

We need paper for lots of things in our everyday life's, as well as the obvious like writing, books, magazines, telephone directories, catalogues, and newspapers; paper is absorbent so we can use it for cleaning.

As a raw material paper can be used to make board and other cellulose-based products, cable wrapping, condenser paper, capacitor paper, drywall and wallpaper. Also for blueprints, business cards, mailing tubes, maps, world globes, bandages, hospital and surgical gowns, curtains, hats, masks, shoe covers, wipes, medical charts, piping for irrigation systems, prescription paper, gauze, purifying filters, surgical tape and dressings, pollen and dust masks, wrapping, cereal and other dried-food boxes, coffee filters, disposable nappies, doilies, drinking straws, egg cartons, emery boards, facial and toilet tissue, ice cream containers, paper bags, imitation leather, microwave-food containers, milk cartons, wicker furniture from twisted paper, window shades, sandpaper, insulation, concrete mix, greeting cards, sweet wrappers and it is used in the production of shampoo, shaving foam, hairspray and even eco-friendly coffins.

And for fun things like jigsaw puzzles, kites, paper airplanes, papier-maché, paper dolls, paper flowers and party hats, photographs, playing cards, ribbons and bows, stickers, streamers and the all-important gift paper!

The possibilities for using paper are endless but the best part is...........

YOU can grab a pen, a paint brush or a pencil and piece of paper and start writing, painting or drawing anything you want, then hold it up and look at it!

WOW that's amazing! 

And when you've finished, just fold it up and put in your pocket or hang it on your wall!

I love paper how about you?