Paper Reduction

The University of Washington has a goal of reducing paper usage university-wide, in line with a Washington state law directing state agencies to reduce paper consumption by at least 30% from 2008-2009 levels and use 100% recycled copy paper.

UW is still working toward those goals, and you can see the progress on our Sustainability Dashboard's paper page. Below, you can that the amount of paper per employee across all UW campuses has steadily dropped since the law was passed.

Wednesday we're hosting a paper reduction Green Bag talk in Gerberding Hall, starting at 11:30 a.m. in room 26! We are joined by Tim Stetter, Director of the UW in the High School program who will talk about their paper reduction efforts in the last year.

UW Sustainability is excited to introduce paper reduction week! All week on the blog we'll be highlighting stories of people and groups on campus who have taken steps to reduce paper use, and providing tips and resources for you to do the same. This week is all about reducing the amount of paper we use, going digital and making small changes with big impacts. Reducing paper can save money and time as well as significantly reducing our environmental impact.

Does this picture stress you out? It stresses me out - having stacks of paper everywhere feels unorganized, cluttered and chaotic. But there's a solution! Follow these simple tips for reducing paper in your office or home: