What is Paper Efficiency?
Paper efficiency measures how much paper is needed to perform a specific task. Improving paper efficiency means accomplishing the same task, with less mass of paper used.
1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first copier with an automatic "duplexing" feature (duplexing is copying onto both sides of a sheet). Most people have made duplex copies, but today, most copies are still single-sided. Duplexing some of these copies that are now single-sided is a way to get the same information on fewer sheets of paper, and so is an example of increasing "paper efficiency".Another example of paper efficiency arises in copying from a book. In many cases, one can copy two book pages onto one side of a 'standard' (8.5 x 11 inch) sheet, particularly if the reduction feature of the copier is used. Use of both strategies together (duplexing and putting two original pages on each copied side) can reduce paper use by up to 75%.
Paper efficiency is much like energy efficiency. A more efficient car needs less gas to go the same distance as a less efficient car. Adding insulation to the walls of a house reduces the heating bill and also makes the house more comfortable to be in. Just as energy efficiency is not about "freezing in the dark", improving paper efficiency does not mean losing any of the wanted information on the paper.
The key to efficiency is that we usually don't want the paper itself,
but the service that it helps provide. For example, we buy a newspaper
for the news it contains, not for the newsprint. Because of this, we rarely
focus attention on the paper itself, and organizations don't have "Paper
Department"s. Instead, every part of an organization uses some paper
in delivering their product. By spending some time to examine and rethink
our use of paper, to use it better, we can help ourselves, our organization,
and the environment.
Recycling paper and using recycled content paper are good to do, but
as they do not affect the amount of paper we use, they are not examples
of paper efficiency.
