In my job, I try to use as less of paper and pen as I can.
But can I ever, ever entirely replace pen, paper, markers and highlighters? Probably not. In
fact, sometimes, they are necessary.
I can turn back to look at my whiteboard
and know how the line-up for my weekly newsletter is coming along. I can write
down reminders on post-its or jot down
notes in my notebook during a meeting (once, I forgot taking a notebook along and used my phone to jot down notes in one of the apps. But it seemed so weird and maybe, just maybe rude even though I wasn't really doing anything wrong).
In my (tiny) quest to save the environment, I feel
conflicted when my pen’s ink cartridge runs out or the notebook is about to
get over. What should I do - throw the pen away or order refills? (Up till now, I have been ordering refills, thinking it’s less of an evil but then again, those arrive wrapped in plastic too. Damn it!! There is just too much packaging in this world). Or how do I dispose of an old notebook, specially when it's hardcover? Sure some of these things can be recycled but that takes up material resources and energy too. According to the We Hate to Waste blog,
“Americans throw away 1.6 billion disposable
pens every
year. Add the rest of the world, multiply by over 50 years of writing with
disposable pens, and that’s a lot of metal and plastic waste ending up in
landfill! I suspect it’s just the tip of the iceberg, given the piles of
disposable pens that many of us haven’t thrown out yet. Not to mention the
refillable pens that we never take the trouble to refill.”
So, do I have an alternative? I don’t know. I work in a
corporate environment where we have to place our stationery orders via a
company we are contracted with. My choices are kind of limited to the
company’s catalogue but I am always open to hear new ideas and ways to reduce
my ecological footprint. Go ahead and drop me a comment and tell me if I can
do anything differently.
Thanks so much in advance!
