Spare A Thought For Our Planet - How Much Paper Do You Use?

Consider this: according to the state government, over 600,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard are sent to landfill in NSW every year. Australians as a whole use 210,000 tonnes of office paper each year - and much of this is not from recycled sources but from virgin forests.

And it's not just the trees you have to think about. According to Waterfootprint.org, it takes 10 litres of water to produce 1 sheet of A4 paper. Meanwhile, according to the Australasian Cartridge Remanufacturing Association, Australians use approximately 4 million toner cartridges and 12 million ink cartridges a year. Laid end to end, they would stretch the distance from Sydney to Hobart.

When it comes to reducing paper use, there's plenty that an individual or small office can do. For starters, consider these points when it comes to your office paper use:

- Print only when necessary - many offices are going "paperless", opting to store company records and files in digital format. Try backing up your files instead of keeping hard copies of records. Have your presentations available in digital format so that you can send to your attendees instead of distributing hand outs.

- Scan instead of fax - many printers today act as an all-in-one unit, so you can scan, fax and print from one machine. Instead of faxing your documents (which require the recipient to print out the page), scan them in electronic form and email them across. There are also a number of services available that allow companies to receive faxes as email attachments.

- Print double sided - if you have a multi function printer with auto duplex, you can adjust your settings to print double sided by default. You can also set privileges in a way that only certain individuals have access to colour or single sided printing.

- Recycle printer cartridges and toners - there are a number of cartridge collection facilities conveniently located throughout Australia. They collect cartridges and toners from laser printers, inkjet printers and more.

- Buy recycled - purchasing recycled office paper means you're saving trees. Alternatively, look for paper that is harvested from sustainable tree plantations - this process ensures your paper isn't made from old growth forests or destroying natural habitats.

Next time you print an email or report, spare a thought for the planet. Many of these tips are not only beneficial to the environment, but they can help you save on printing costs and overheads - now that's smart business.