Is a paperless society achievable? Looking at the success of the paper industry, one has to wonder. The advent of electronic communications and ebooks have helped reduce the need of paper. This saves on tree consumption and preserves the environment.
Look around your home and workplace. You might be surprise at the amount of paper in use. The postal service still delivers mail to you. You can reduce some of that mail. Request your bills and bank statements to be delivered electronically. You can also pay your bills electronically too.
Paper will always exist. Some people prefer paper the feel of paper. Others doubt the legitimacy of electronic documents. Some remain uncomfortable using a computer, while others are apprehensive about the security of personal information online. Technology and security continues to progress and improve, more companies will use the internet to reduce paper cost.
It seems however, that as much as we hated the time consumption and filing problems of the paper days, we are dealing with an ever-growing workload. Years back and still today, we are sifting through the mail we receive from the post office to discard junk mail. That doesn't even come close when compared to spam, viruses, and pop-ups that litter our workplace. Now we not only deal with junk mail at home, but we are dealing with it constantly at work as well. Going from paper to Internet seems to have opened the floodgate for companies that continue to bombard us with useless information. Companies or individuals can send junk mail out to millions of us with one click of the mouse and endure no or very minimal cost to do so.
Paper mail creates a natural barrier protecting children from seeing adult content. With the cost of sending mail gone, unscrupulous people don't care who receives their email messages. Parents must protect their child's ebox and internet cruising.
Shifting to a society the uses less paper will take some adjusting, especially in dealing with the problems it brings. But an electronic message can never replace the warm feeling of receiving a stamped, hand written card or letter.
