Change the World Wednesday - paper use

I'm back with another edition of Change the World Wednesday hosted by Reduce Footprints.  Here is the challenge this week:

This week, lets reduce the amount of paper we use. Please choose at least one of the following actions and accomplish it (take on all of them to be a true Eco-superstar).

• Use no more than 6 squares of toilet paper per bathroom trip.

• If given the option, choose not to have receipts printed out.

• If you must print things out, print on both sides of the paper (try to avoid printing by saving a file electronically instead).

• Visit Catalog Choice, Do Not Mail (US), Red Dot Campaign (Canada), Stop Junk Mail (UK), or a similar service to remove your name from mailers, advertisements, catalogs, junk mail, etc.

• Read the newspaper online rather than buy a paper copy.

• Use cloth napkins and towels rather than the paper varieties.

• Opt for reusable plates rather than paper plates.

Or ...

If you're already doing the above, please come up with at least one other way to save paper and share it with us.


UP THE ANTE (a new feature)

• Jessica takes on this challenge, especially the toilet paper part, and raises us one (or in this case, decreases us one) ... she's going to use only 5 squares per trip. Who's up for Jessica's challenge?

Well..I kinda do a lot of this already.   I'll go through some of the stuff I do though and maybe it will be something new to you.

1)Use no more than 6 squares of toilet paper per bathroom trip or if you take on Jessica - use no more than 5.   Honestly, I don't think I use much but I don't know how much. I started to try and lesson the amount used per trip earlier in the year when I thought we were going through it faster than we should.  I'm going to be extra attentive to just how many squares I'm using now though and try to keep it to 5.

2) Receipts - If I'm given the option I always choose not to have a receipt printed.  There are some stores that will print a receipt and ask if I want it, and I usually say no. However, I noticed they just throw it away. So I'm trying to say yes in those instances so that I can at least take it home and recycle it.

3) If printing something on the pc..print on both sides.   I can't say that I select dual-sided copies a lot however if I'm finished with a piece of paper and only one side is used I'll either put it in a stack and print on the opposite side at home or at work I save it and use it for scrap paper.  So eventually both sides do end up being used.  I also save a lot of files as PDF's instead of printing.  I do this both at work and at home.  I email items instead of faxing as often as possible also.  At work we have our faxes actually being saved as a pdf file and going to a shared drive.  Then the files are emailed to the correct individual instead of being printed (although I have a feeling a lot of people still print them out).

4) I definitely plan to visit two of these sites to try and minimize the catalogs arriving at our house.  We don't have many, but some.   In fact, we have some being sent to our house in my mother-in-law's name. Not sure how that happened..but I don't like it since I'll never order from them.  I actually looked up one company only and couldn't find a way to opt-out so I contacted their customer service via chat.  They took our address of of the mailing list.  I figure if I need to save the catalogs and do that for all when I have time, then so be it.

5) I only get the Sunday copy and that's for coupons...so...I'll still get it but it's only once per week. I then take the paper to a school or church where it can be recycled and they get money towards the school/church.

6) I keep meaning to make cloth napkins and never taking the time to do it.  Recently I've just put out an extra towel and I use that instead of a napkin in the kitchen.  We rarely use paper towels, I use rags to clean up any mess.  We basically only use them to clean up any dog accidents in the house.

7) I always use re-usable plates. I have the paper variety because I basically got them for free.  I figure this way I have them as a back-up if needed.  I made sure to have enough plates for all of my immediate family though.

Ok..so since I do all of that...do I have a recommendation as to what others could do?  Here's a tip I learned it from a different CTTW poster.  Instead of using a new piece of paper for a list or for notes, use an envelope.  A used envelope.  Maybe an envelope that was mailed to you with a bill.  An envelope that was going to end up in the recycle bin anyway.

That's it..I'm out of ideas. haha!