Make an Impact: Cut Your Nonprofit’s Use of Office Paper

The average office worker uses one sheet of office paper every 12 minutes or 700 pounds of office paper per year. The environmental impact of our paper use is very large and very real: one-third of wood harvested in the United States is used for paper and paper packaging.

Tools to Reduce Paper Usage

According to Tracy Godfrey, project analyst for Environmental Defense, there are several strategies you can employ for reducing paper use. Godfrey presented a May 2007 workshop on the “Real Impact of Paper Use” at the NonProfit Center.

You can begin to reduce your nonprofit’s paper use by converting to recycled paper products and measuring your progress using the Paper Calculator, a web-based tool that does all the math to show how your paper choices make a difference in resource use. 

“You can keep it simple and compare recycled content and paper amounts,” explains Godfrey, “or go advanced and include information about pulp and bleaching processes, swich to recycled, save a tree – and so much more.” Just a few small changes in your daily activity can improve office paper management and help sustain our environment.

Interested in hearing about other NonProfit Center events? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter to learn about upcoming events and opportunities.