7gen Bloc

For me, paying and receiving all bills online and via e-mail was one huge step towards reducing the amount of paper used basically because of me. I get bill payment reminders and bank statements via e-mail, because I just ended up throwing away paper ones eventually.

Also, I stopped receiving pretty much all my catalogs except for a very select few, and I'm thinking of getting rid of even those because everything's available online. Catalog Choice is a great service for this.

It's been so much more convenient to get rid of this paper trail - I no longer find myself with piles of papers and magazines I inevitably have to sort and recycle.

When I use paper towels to dry my hands at work, I bring them home to use again to clean up pet messes.

We've found ourselves worrying about our paper usage. I made reusable napkins to replace our paper napkins and I bought bar mops to stop the bulk of our paper towel usage. Now a roll of paper towels lasts us months and we always buy paper towels & TP that are made out of recyclable material.

We have installed a covered toilet paper dispenser in our bathrooms and it only allows you to take about three sheets at a time. Along with purchasing T.P. that is recycled it helps us reduce the amount we use at each time.
I also have reusable towels hanging everywhere instead of papertowels, those are hidden and only come out for specific uses-this keeps the kids from just grabbing papertowels to wipe up a spill or sticky fingers.

In addition to the great ideas in the article, I would add a few strategies that I use:

Make envelopes out of pretty pages in magazines.

Use old socks, old towels, old t-shirts, etc. in place of paper towels.

Find a source of paper already-used on one side (from an office, for example) for use in your printer.

Request paperless billing from your credit card companies, paperless statements from your bank or credit union, and paperless reports from your investment/mutual fund companies.

As a 16+ year veteran of the paper business I'd like to offer some information for awareness. All these ideas are good, recycled material in manufacturing is good, but what consumers need to demand is 3rd party forest certification on and in their paper products!

Independent verification of the sources from which the pulp came are available through FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), SFI (Sustainable Forest Initiative) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) and others.

If you receive direct mail or a catalog or any other business communications and it does not have one of these Chain-Of-Custody logos, ask why not? If it doesn't chances are someone doesn't care enough.

The pulp is available from authenticated sources and, unlike recycled material, at a very small price differential. Still, the people printing the materials have to take responsibility for specifying paper with certified pulp.

There isn't enough recycled fiber available to make all the paper Americans consume, so this is the next best solution for preserving our precious forests. Research using www.fscus.org

I have a small paper shredder that I use to shred practically all the mail I receive. Envelopes, ads, circulars etc. I donate all the shredded paper to my local animal services shelter for use in the kitty cages. It is mind boggling how much shredded paper I can accumulate in a very short time. Newspapers and magazines are recycled and Catalog Choice has eliminated an outstanding 27 unwanted catalogs from my mailbox!

I teach origami and often used magazine covers, the "bingo" cards from magazines, and postcards left over from the local museum. I teach using printer paper cut square as it is far cheaper than real origami paper, and teaches the reuse of paper. A local department store's ads are often square. To practice a fold, any paper will work, especially paper that would otherwise be recycled, hopefully, or at worst, thrown away.

For nearly 40 years, we use towels to dry hands in the kitchen. There is a hook next to the sink to hold the hand drying towel. Old linen table cloths torn or cut into strips about 12" wide and 3' long hand over the hook. Currently, I purchased seconds of golf towels from a towel factory, and the grommet fits over the hook.

Newspaper works well for draining fried foods, rather than paper towels.

A box of facial tissues mounted to the wall in the kitchen is helpful for more than noses. Wiping oil in the heated, clean cast iron pan only requires one tissue, which is cheaper than a paper towel.

My husband and I replaced our paper towels with reusable napkins and purchase recycled toilet paper. Junk mail becomes scraps of paper for grocery lists and such. We also signed up to stop receiving unsolicited catalogs. I've always loved making neat envelopes with pretty magazine pictures.

In my class is where I see the most paper waste, so this past year, I asked our staff if they could try to minimize paper use. In my classroom, this means I print on already used paper, because almost everything is a draft in most cases. We've had trouble using Staples recycled paper because our copiers are old, but we're getting there.

I have students use the backs of used color printer paper for projects and posters. I've also had my students make sturdy notepads with box cardboard from shipments we receive, reusable office paper (used only on one side), and plastic grocery bags as binding. I had them pepper their notepads with tips on reducing consumption and waste.

Students also run a composting program and for that we use shredded paper for bedding. Everyone in the school is always sending us their shredded paper. This year, I got cloth rags to use for clean-up instead of paper towels. (I recognize that laundering them will use up lots of energy and water too. What to do?)

I am a high school art teacher so you can imagine how much paper and other supplies can be used in my classes. Part of my first day of school speech is about how we DO NOT WASTE in my classroom. My students leave knowing a little more about conservation and a lot about how much I care about it. It kind of becomes a joke when I walk around with the paper towels, I give then 1 to start with and then they have to ask me for another one. I use humor so they don't get mad when I tell them to shake their hands dry. I cut up unusable paper into scraps, carefully measure out paint, diligently count pencils and erasers. I always offer some ec points when students think of new ways to conserve in the classroom and they come up with interesting things.
I try my best to teach them because I have been disappointed with how many kids tell me that they don't recycle at home. I tell them things that I do at home and hopefully some will see the importance and start making a difference.

Eliminating paper napkins and paper towels will mean washing at least one extra load a week at my house. Does anyone know which is the better use of resources? Would appreciate a response from someone who can quote figures for a comparison. I use only as much paper as needed, and follow most of the other tips suggested here.

Also, I would not drain food directly onto newspaper. It is not clean and the print could be toxic.

I'm about to start my senior year of college, and I do what I can to help the planet out, including reducing my paper use for class. While I always print in landscape form and back-to-back (and only when necessary,) unfortunatly most of my professors do not. How do I deal? First, I nag them constantly to print back-to-back. When that fails, I take advantage of the situation. Rather than buy new notebooks, I flip over all my one sided copies, put them them in an old binder (I've been reusing it since middle school) and use them for recording notes.

Anybody else have tips for making my final year of school eco-friendly?