Written by Alexis Caffrey
Internet use is on the rise in corporate America. These days, a business can’t get by without a presence on the Web. And as companies get online more and more, they use paper less and less.
Some businesses are taking it a step further, giving up paper entirely.
Vancouver marketing agency Idea Rebel has been paperless since it was founded in 2008 – no printers, notepads or even Starbucks cups allowed. Tech giant Verizon stopped distributing paper phonebooks in many states in 2010. And the campaign Paperless 2013 partners with companies like Google and Fujitsu to reduce the need for paper in the office.
Going paperless may seem like a big step for many businesses. But giving up (or even just cutting back) paper use can have a lot of benefits – for your company, your clients and the environment.
Increased productivity
Relying on paper can slow you down – whether you’re spending hours looking for a lost document or waiting for someone else to finish using a file. According to The Paperless Project, a typical employee spends 30% – 40% of his time looking for missing papers.
When you archive your documents online instead of in your desk drawers, you can find them in moments just by searching your database. And by keeping important files on the Web or in cloud storage, multiple people can access them at once.
Scan paper files and store them on your company’s hard drive – or with a cloud-based storage service – to improve productivity and efficiency.
Lower costs
Paper doesn’t seem expensive. But if you’re a big corporation using millions of sheets a year, it is. The average employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper every year – which, as of 2011, added up to a cost of more than $800 per employee.
Buying paper – and printers, ink and toner – isn’t the only expense. Storing paper documents and files is expensive, too. The Paperless Project estimates that filing costs average $20 dollars per document, and each 4-drawer filing cabinet costs $1,500. That money could be saved by keeping documents online.
Save money – and increase space – by reducing the number of paper files you keep in your office. Computer data storage is often cheaper than physical space, and many Web-based data storage services are even free to use.
Improved security
As easy as it is to lose paper documents, it’s even easier for them to fall into the wrong hands. Keep your documents more secure when you go paperless with high-security computer systems.
Document management software programs allow you to set security clearances and permissions for the data you store, even down to the individual file. You can give different employees access to the files they need – and keep your most sensitive documents more secure.
The best security systems even track who accesses files at what time, so you can see exactly whose virtual “hands” have been on it.
Better sustainability
Paper use has been an environmental concern for a long time. Paper production doesn’t only require trees – it uses oil, energy, water and land.
According to GoPaperless.com, the U.S. paper industry is the country’s second largest consumer of energy. Reducing our paper consumption by just 10 million pages could save 2,500 trees, 56,000 gallons of oil, 450 cubic yards of landfill space, and 595,000 kilowatts of energy.
Digitizing your company and reducing your paper use can help conserve these resources. And going paperless – or at least going green – can also improve your company’s public image.
Alexis Caffrey is a freelance writer with a focus on technology, new media, and design. In a former life she was a graphic designer based out of New York, NY. She actively (some would say obsessively) follows entertainment news and pop culture. You can reach Alex via her email LexCaffrey@gmail.com.