10 Scary Facts About Paper Waste (SlideShare)

< 1 min read

• Document & Records Management

Some people can take one look in the nearest garbage can and realize that our use of paper is wasteful. Others need to be shown the big picture facts about paper waste before they consider going digital.

Here are 10 “big picture” facts that demonstrate the true impact of paper waste.

1. The average American office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper every year.¹
2. The average American citizen uses the approximate equivalent of one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products every year.¹
3. The average American office worker uses about 500 disposable cups every year (paper and plastic).¹
4. Paper makes up 28% of municipal solid waste, more than anything else Americans throw away.²
5. The pulp and paper industry uses more water to produce one ton of product than any other industry.³
6. The estimated 2.6 billion holiday cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high.⁴
7. Paper accounts for up to 71.6 million tons of waste per year.⁴
8. The average American office makes 19 copies of each paper document.⁵
9. Offices also lose one out of 20 paper documents.⁵
10. These offices then spend up to $120 searching for every misfiled paper document.

Ready to reduce paper waste in your office? Download the free guide to paperless document management today.

References

1. http://www.cleanair.org
2. http://www.epa.gov/solidwaste/conserve/materials/paper/index.htm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_pollution
4. http://www.epa.gov/osw/wycd/catbook/what.htm
5. http://ecm.laserfiche.com/document-management/