The alarming rate of climate change is definitely catching people’s attention all around the world. As responsible adults, everyone must play their part in making better choices for the environment. One important way we can all contribute to a healthier planet is by going paperless.
Moving towards a paper-lite future is one of the best ways companies can reduce their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, the paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for 4% of the world’s energy consumption.
Not only does it over-burden natural resources with excess consumption, but it also depletes fossil fuel power. All of this can easily be replaced by electronic documents. With smart technology and software, businesses can dramatically cut down paper usage.
Read the steps below to learn how to go paperless at your workplace.
Ask Your Employees for Support
Converting your office into one that’s completely paperless is not a single person’s job. Properly implementing this new way of working involves the cooperation and support of all your employees. This is why the first thing to do when going paperless is creating awareness.
Set up a meeting with your employees to discuss the idea and make sure to get their input on it. Talk about the invaluable benefits of paper-lite initiatives and how that’s integral to your company’s eco-friendly stance. Convincing your employees to support you will help you ensure that the transition is smooth and successful.
Decide to Make the Transition Gradually
When going paperless in the office, it is important to remember that the transition won’t take place overnight. Going paperless at such a level involves many long term changes and the efforts of many people, so you must accept that the change will be gradual.
You must also put ample thought into choosing new paperless procedures and give your employees enough time to adapt to the new way of working. Try to be patient with implementing the change as it’s not realistic to expect your company to completely stop using papers all at once.
Go Digital
Digitizing your business processes is the key to going paperless in the work place. This will require you to recognize all the departments, which have wasteful printing of documents. After that, you must take proper measures to reduce printing drastically to avoid the use of paper. This step usually involves adapting the use of digital software for different functions.
Use a Document Management Software
Another effective step towards going paperless is learning how to create and manage documents digitally. You should invest in effective document management software that allows you to keep digital records of important documents for long time periods.
Think of this software as a cupboard that is full of files with important documents. Moreover, you can also use document scanning services to scan the different documents you receive from your suppliers or customers.
Using document scanning services in your office will enable you to create digital copies of documents and store them on computers. This way, you can use the papers you receive from others for in-house activities.
We hope this article encourages you to adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle. In the end, it all comes down to how dedicated you are to the cause.