It can be overwhelming to find ways to reduce waste and your business’s carbon footprint, but the answer may be simpler than you think: digitalization. Digitalizing your records could greatly reduce your impact on the planet and make your business more efficient. Read our blog for more information.
The Impact of Paper
There are few materials used in our everyday lives that do not have some impact on the environment. However, one of the most necessary and common materials – paper – may have more of an impact than you think.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency:
- At least 64.7 million tons of paper and paperboard were produced in 2018 alone
- 46 million tons of paper was recycled making paper the most recycled product
- Nondurable paper goods have a higher recycling rate while packaging has a relatively lower recycling rate
- Landfills received approximately 17.2 million tons of paper and paperboard
- Paper waste accounted for 11.8% of all waste at landfills
Paper products are easy to produce and even easier to toss and forget, but their impact can last for years to come.
Why Paper Isn’t Always Great
It’s also important to note that the cost-effectiveness of paper products does not mean they are high quality. Many of these products are not intended to last and are often considered single-use. This means that they are only intended to be used once and then thrown away.
Paper documents are cumbersome to store and are susceptible to conditions like humidity, moisture, and sunlight that can degrade the documents over time. Additionally, if a document is handled by many people, it is more likely to tear or fade with use.
Digitalization
Digitalizing records and documents preserve the information and keep the integrity of the data for a long time. Once a record is digitalized, it can be sent and shared with multiple people at once and may be edited in real-time. Not to mention digital files can be encrypted and secured so only those working directly with the data that have a password may access the information.
For law firms and medical practices, this is a crucial function as a client and patient safety is paramount and keeping confidential information safe is of the utmost importance. Digitalizing also does not require filing cabinets, folders, or drawers for storage and can be kept on a USB drive to save physical space.
Save the Planet One Document at a Time
Acro Photo Print Inc. provides professional digitizing services so you can rest assured that your information is secure. Our technicians can help you preserve important documents, meaningful photos, and more and encrypt data so the information stays safe.
Contact us today to learn more.