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These days, when we pull up to an art exhibit or a concert – many of us have opted for the electronic tickets to be delivered to our phones, eschewing the need for paper tickets to be printed out.
Many people have chosen to go paperless, and although only one in eight companies consider themselves as paperless – this figure is bound to increase in the coming years as the push for sustainability and reducing our corporate carbon footprint continues.
In this article, we’ll explain what it means to go paperless, the pros and cons, and if going paperless is really better for the environment.
Going paperless refers to significantly reducing or cutting out the use of paper entirely – such as by downloading tickets for concerts, trains, and flights on your smartphone as opposed to printing them out and presenting them by hand.
💡 In the midst of evolving technology and climate change, going paperless is often a sign of commitment to the environment or a genuine effort to transition to the use of new technology.
As a result of going paperless, companies will need to scan existing physical documents, transition to the use of digital signatures, and utilize data storage.
Here are a few of the reasons why companies may decide to go paperless:
👉 As your business expands, it is likely the amount of tax documents, employee and client files, and more papers will grow – making going paperless a viable option to help limit clutter and waste in your organization.
There are several pros and cons to going paperless, such as helping to reduce global waste and allowing for easier access of files – but storing information on a computer or server can increase the risk of a data hack.
💡 Going paperless can prove expensive and time consuming in the beginning, but it can provide indispensable benefits to your business in the long run – especially as people grow more concerned about a company’s sustainability.
Read more below on the pros and cons of going paperless to better decide how your company should handle its data organization and account creation moving forward.
Here are some of the pros of paperless:
It is important to remember that while going paperless can allow a business to improve its overall efficiency and reduce waste, there are also potential consequences to transitioning to the use of electronic documents.
Here are some of the cons of going paperless:
👉 Remember, popular examples of going paperless include using online bank statements, sending digital invoices, providing patients with electronic medical records, and having your employees use DocuSign to renew their contracts.
The table below will depict these examples of going paperless and their pros and cons:
Example of Going Paperless | Pros | Cons |
---|---|---|
Email Invoicing | Reduces paper waste, faster delivery, lower postage costs | Security concerns, requires digital access and literacy |
Digital Document Storage (Cloud) | Minimizes physical storage, easy access and sharing | Dependent on internet, potential data privacy risks |
Electronic Signatures | Eliminates paperwork, faster, secure storage | May lack legal acceptance in some areas, software costs |
Online Billing & Payments | Environmentally friendly, time-saving, reduces paper | Security risks, difficult for non-tech-savvy users |
Mobile Apps for Note-Taking | Reduces use of notebooks, easy organization and search | Screen dependency, app subscriptions, limited battery life |
Digital Marketing (Emails, Social Media) | Less paper usage, targeted audience reach, cost-effective | Online ad fatigue, limited reach for non-digital users |
Several individuals and industries may find it too daunting to give up paper entirely, as it disrupts their current way of life.
💡 A good example of a group of people hesitant to go paperless include mariners, who continue to rely on paper graphs and charts to decipher changes in coastlines or even to identify shipwrecks.
Several professions, such as mariners, have been using paper to successfully execute their projects for centuries – and view going paperless as an inconsiderate use of time and training that would ultimately have no impact on their productivity.
Let’s think of another popular example of potentially going paperless in the future: money. It’s completely feasible to presume that one day, currency will no longer be printed, cash will no longer be accepted, and all financial transactions will be made electronically.
This potential transition to going paperless with money is likely to be met with a lot of resistance, as older generations will view going paperless in terms of currency as a loss – viewing it as a struggle to support small businesses who may not have the capital to operate successfully with 100% digital currency.
👉Therefore, many companies could benefit from a hybrid approach to discover whether going paperless or not would be helpful or detrimental to their business – as going paperless cold turkey could prove catastrophic for internal operations, especially for smaller businesses or specific professions.
Going paperless is generally better for the environment as the digital industry continues to adapt to e-waste and reduce energy usage, whilst paper production is not making the same progressive effort.
💡 This is due to the fact that more of society has adapted to going paperless and using technology in our day to day lives.
Here are some reasons why going paperless is better for the environment:
Here are some reasons to reconsider going paperless to protect the environment:
👉 In the end, the decision to go paperless will be contingent on the size, location, and specific needs of your business – as going paperless may not be the right decision for smaller, local businesses or companies that have yet to expand to global markets.
Ultimately, if your company has the financial resources to go paperless – it may be worthwhile for your business in the long-term as it can help to improve data and file management and prepare for environmental regulations and initiatives such as the CSRD and applying to the SBTi with ease.
Going paperless can be the right decision for your company in the long-run, but it is also important to consider that smaller businesses, such as local coffee shops or thrift stores, may not be ready or able to take that next step – and that going paperless could make running or expanding your business more challenging.
💡 If going paperless seems too daunting, your business can employ a mix of using traditional paper files while also migrating some of your data to the cloud – which can help your business decide which method is more effective.
At Greenly, we value digital operations as an effort to reduce our carbon footprint and also make it easier for your company to not only upload its information to our user-friendly platform – but to allow your suppliers and other business partners to share their data easier, too.
If reading this article on going paperless has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
Aligning your business to comply with sustainability initiatives such as going paperless can be challenging, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help. Click here to schedule a demo to see how Greenly can help you find ways to improve energy efficiency and decrease the dependency on fossil fuels in your own company.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
Click here to learn more about Greenly and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint.