How to cut down on paper costs at work

Here's how you can cut down on paper costs at work.Studies have demonstrated that paper is wasted more than any other item in offices.You also use paper more than anything else in your office.So cutting down on how much paper is wasted can help you cut down on the amount of money that you spend on paper in your office.

1.Measure the amount of paper that you use in your office.

Looking at where paper is used in your office or business and where paper is wasted can help you come up with ways to cut down on paper costs in specific areas through particular measures.Look carefully at where paper is being used in your office.

Consider whether or not you and your employees are using these following paper and cost saving measures within your office:
are you cutting down on how many images/documents are being printed and/or copied?You can do this through the following:
--viewing documents online
--keeping mailing lists current
--keeping mailing lists short
--using routing slips
--making more use of email instead of printed memos
--using electronic faxing instead of traditional faxing
--reduce how many times things are being unnecessarily printed
are you collecting and recycling paper in your office?
are you regularly purchasing recycled paper?
do you recycle paper by using left-over paper as scratch paper?
can you reduce the size of paper used?
can you reduce the weight of paper that you're using?
are you making employees aware of how they can cut down on paper?

You can measure how much paper is used in the following ways:
Measure the paper itself.How much paper are you using?What are the reductions in the amount of
paper being bought?Is there an increase in recycled paper?Are you seeing any reduction in paper waste??

Measure the financial costs.Can you track and measure how much you are spending in purchasing paper?What about postage?What about the costs of printing, like the amount spent on toner and ink?Disposal costs?What about transportation and shipping costs?

2.Consider a paperless office.

Many people are trying to move towards making their offices and businesses entirely paperless.This approach has some drawbacks and some benefits.Here's an overview of why you would want to and why you might not want to make your office paperless.While you will save costs on your paper, you might rack up costs in other areas, including a reduction of productivity until your employees learn how to use the new systems.

Essentially, a paperless office makes use of different technologies and information systems in an effort to reduce the amount of paper that is used throughout the office.This ideally will result in reducing costs and increasing effectiveness.

With a paperless office, you will actually just send your document to a receiving machine straight from your computer.Then every letter that is on the document is processed as text through the use of Optical Character Recognition, so that you can use Microsoft Word to edit the document without too much hassle.

3.Use document management systems

One tool that is often used in creating paperless offices is various Document Management Systems.Document management systems are computer programs that work with your various electronic devices, like your computers, PDAs, WAP-capable phones, laptops, etc.

By using a Document Management System, you don't actually have to make any hard copies of any of your documents. You can also electronically sign your documents, so that you don't have to use any paper.Of course, to electronically sign a document, you are going to have to use a special tablet and pen, which can be expensive.

There are various ways to set up Document Management Systems that allow for different levels of access, security, and privacy.

4.Use content management systems

You can make use of content management systems to allow all employees to access a document and work on it collaboratively.Along with Document Management Systems, you can set up access to the document so that only people working on a project have access to the project.
5.Pros of paperless offices
a.cost efficiency
b.time efficiency
c.better organization
d.potential to cut down on mistakes
6.Cons of paperless offices
a.you won't actually stop using paper
b.your computers can crash and destroy your office
c.need for constant updates
d.need to constantly upgrade technology
e.have to fight against the mindset of the office