When laid end-to-end, it’s enough to circle the planet. Twice.

That’s how many plastic straws are being thrown away each and every day. Isn’t that frightening?

Little wonder bars, cafes, and restaurants around the world are now taking massive strides towards eradicating plastic from their day-to-day operations. And while you may not find a huge amount of plastic in your office, ask yourself, are you using more paper than you need?

Chances are, the answer to that is yes. Global consumption of paper has almost doubled over the past 40 years, and using the UK today as an example, every person alone uses the equivalent of over 4 trees worth of paper each year.

For the sake of the environment, and a more efficient office, it’s time to go paperless.

Why run a paper-free workplace?

According to a blog post by document management company ORS Group, the average office worker uses a whopping 10,000 sheets of copy paper every year. And of those 10,000 sheets, 6,800 are wasted, usually thanks to the printing of duplicates, not printing double-sided, or the unnecessary printing of emails.

It’s a staggering level of waste, and it’s not only affecting the environment, it’s also putting a dent in your bottom line. In fact, in that same blog post, it’s suggested that the cost of using paper in the office can run from anywhere between 13 and 31 times the cost of buying the paper in the first place.

How to go paperless?

Sadly, going paperless isn’t as simple as putting a padlock on your stationery cupboard and rationing print credits. Instead, it requires a root and branch (no pun intended) overhaul of your workflow.

In order to steadily move away from using too much paper, consider the following:

• Prohibit single-sided printing where possible; ask that your employees print on both sides to minimise paper use.
• Request that emails and memos are no longer printed.
• Stop using print outs in meetings.

However, the biggest change you can make in pursuit of a paperless office is to switch to the cloud.

By changing your accounting and finance processes from a paper-based approach (hard copies of invoices, purchase orders, etc.) to a digital approach, you can cut down on paper use, save money, and increase productivity. It can also minimising costly errors caused by misplaced bills and incorrectly filed paperwork.

All in all, a cloud-enabled accounting system such as Xero can help you manage your accounts in real-time, make better decisions, do your bit for your carbon footprint, and dramatically reduce the risk of papercuts. What’s not to love?

Get a little greener with Stepping Stone

By working with Stepping Stone, we can help you get a little greener by moving to the cloud. With Xero, you’ll enjoy a seamless and reliable accounting process, without losing important documents to the shuffle of everyday office life.

Ready to get started?

Contact us today to speak with one of our friendly Xero experts.

PS. If you’d like to close the loop on years of paper waste, try Cleanfox. They help you declutter your email inbox, and plant real trees in Zambia on your behalf.