Keeping Life Organized: Going Paperless

Keep Your Life Organized:
Going Paperless

What is the key to creating a more organized space?  Having less stuff to organize.  One of the things I hate the most is paper clutter.  This is for two reasons.  First, because it seems that the inflow of random, needless papers is never ending.  Secondly, it is such a waste.  I'm not an environmental activist or anything, but I just can't see the point in the stacks and stacks of wasted papers that people have in their homes that just get thrown into the trash and take up space in landfills.

There are many different levels of "paperless" for your home.  You may decide you'd just like to do one or two of the things I'll present to you today and that's okay!  Make your choices based on the needs of your family and whatever makes you happy!

I'd like to share some tips for going paperless at home.  Of course, it's almost impossible to be completely paper-free, but you can greatly reduce the amount of paper your family is taking in and getting rid of.

Get a scanner & learn to love the cloud

This will be the best thing you've ever done for your home.  With a scanner, any important documents can be scanned into your computer and saved, reducing the amount of papers you actually need to keep in your home. The only papers I keep are things I definitely need original hard copies of (things with official seals or stamps are examples of things you should keep) and they go straight into a filing cabinet.

By storing the documents electronically, you also gain the ability to access them from anywhere with cloud storage (I like Google Drive or Microsoft SkyDrive).  By keeping copies of your documents stored online, you and your family can gain access to files from home, work, or wherever you need - which is a huge advantage over keeping paper records.  Just be sure to back up all your information regularly.  You never know when a hard drive might fail and once it's gone, it's gone for good.  I recommend backing up your documents to several different places, including to online cloud storage (while it's not likely to happen, what would you do if your internal and external hard drives failed at the same time?!).  There are several sites that can store your backed up files in "the cloud" for a small fee (backup files are much larger than the singular documents you store on your personal cloud storage, hence the need for a different service to store them).

As you begin to scan in the documents you'd like to be kept electronically, you will notice that you're getting rid of a lot of paper, which may feel like defeating the purpose of "going paperless" but, once you've purged yourself of the papers you have and reduce the amount of paper you're taking in, you'll really notice a difference in the amount of trash you're throwing away.  Take recycling into consideration while making the transition to paperless - any papers that can be recycled should be, but be certain to shred any sensitive information before discarding it.

Stop all the junk mail

Here are a few facts I've recently discovered via 41pounds.org, a website devoted to stopping the impact of junk mail:

• More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail.
• On average, an adult can expect to receive 41 pounds of junk mail every year.  44% of this will end up in the landfill without even being opened.
• The creation and shipping of junk mail produces more greenhouse gas emissions than 9 million cars annually.

Or, if saving the planet doesn't interest you as much, these facts might make you take a second to think about it:

• $320 million of the taxes that you pay are used to dispose of junk mail each year
• The transportation of junk mail alone costs $550 million each year.
• Companies are buying and selling your name and address for 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.

There are several resources you can use to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive in your mailbox everyday.  First, you should take a minute to consider your subscriptions.  Many magazines now offer electronic versions of their issues that can be read on mobile devices such as tablets or readers.  Often times these electronic subscriptions cost less than their paper counterparts and reduce the amount of paper you will be getting rid of.  Secondly, there are several services that are free to use which can help stop the unwanted junk from ending up in your mailbox.  OptOutPrescreen will help stop all the "you've already been approved!" credit card offers.  Very much like the "do not call" list that helps end annoying telemarketing calls, DirectMail allows you to sign up for their "do not mail" list, which will help stop unwanted advertisements being delivered to your mailbox.  CatalogChoice will help you stop any catalogs that you are uninterested in or would never buy from. DMAchoice allows you to set preferences so that you continue to receive mail that you want and you stop getting mail that you aren't interested in.

By reducing the amount of junk coming in, you're reducing the amount of junk going out.

Sign up for electronic billing

Stopping junk mail is only half the battle.  What about the mail that you actually do want or need to read, such as monthly bills?  None of my bills come in the mail.  Each month, I'll receive an email from each my service providers letting me know that my statement for the month is available.  I'm then able to sign in on their respective websites to view my bill in PDF format.  I can then choose to print the bill if I'd like (which I do for my Home Management Binder).  Even with the paper being used to print the bill, I'm still reducing by eliminating the extra leaflets, return envelopes, and extra pages used by the company when sending paper bills.  With bills that contain multiple pages, I only print the page that has the date and amount due.  And, since I'm printing with my own paper and ink, it is more likely that the document is recyclable (a lot of junk mail isn't able to be recycled due to the amount of heavy metal that is sometimes used in the ink).

When the bill is ready to be paid, instead of sending a check (more paper!), most companies allow you to pay online or over the phone.  Often times you can even set up automatic bill paying - the amount due will come out of your account automatically without you having to do anything.  This is convenient for forgetful people (as I can sometimes be!) and helps keep bills paid on time and is eco-friendly.

Rethink how you use paper products

We use paper every day, even in places we may not realize or even think about.  Every greeting card and letter uses unnecessary paper.  Even simple tasks such as writing a grocery list can use tons of paper over time.  To save paper, try sending electronic greeting cards.  There are several places online that offer such cards for free or a small fee.  If you send out newsletters to friends and family for holidays, as so many people do with Christmas cards, publish it to a PDF file and send it in an email.  While some people may think that email is "impersonal," just remind them why you're doing it this way - you're doing them a favor by not sending a sheet of paper that will just be discarded anyway.  Avoid using disposable plates, bowls, and cups.  Cut up an old towel to be used as rags rather than using paper towels.  You can reduce your paper use in so many small ways - you just have to think about what you're currently doing and ways you can change it!

Make a digital signature

Some digital documents you receive may require your signature before you send them away.  Usually, you'd go about this by printing the document and then signing it.  Then, you'd either have to scan the document back into the computer and send it off, or stuff it into an envelope, stamp it, and put it in the mail.  Both of these options waste paper.  Instead, sign a piece of paper with a black ink pen.  Scan your signature and save it to your computer.  The next time you need to sign a document, there's no need to print: just insert your saved signature and hit send!

Information Sources: Money Crashers, 41Pounds.org, Simple Organized Life

Have any other tips on going paperless in your home?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Stay green!

-C