The paper-less revolution…?

Most recently at my place of employment, the staff newspaper just went paperless. I applaud this effort and feel the paper-free revolution is absolutely necessary to cut down on the tons of waste our society produces everyday. However, I can’t help but feel a twinge of hypocrisy as I listen to my home printer humming away as it runs off 80+ pages of articles for my seminar class.

 

For several reasons, paper-free is not translating over to my school life. No matter how hard I try, I absolutely cannot read long articles on a computer screen.  I need paper — I am an avid note-taker and am notorious for filling up the margins.  For those of us who work full time, these paper articles can help get us through the morning and evening commutes. So how best to come to terms with this? Should I just take comfort in the fact that these other entities are going paperless, and my contribution could be viewed as minimal? Are there other alternatives I’m not considering? Yes, I print on the back side of old papers, recycle like crazy, and save-save-save articles that will contribute to future research. I am trying to do my best to eliminate any unnecessary printing, but I just have this nagging feeling I could be doing more. What strategies have you implemented?