Why can't offices become paperless? (recycling, hemp, costs, better)

[1greatcity]

With today's technology, it seems to me that the millions of tons of paper used in offices annually could easily be reduced to a bare minimum. But many offices still remain highly dependant on paper in their day-to-day operations. Could it be that it's not cost-effective for a company to go paperless? Or are some companies just resistant to change?
The office where I work is a prime example. A computer on every desk, yet file cabinets full of documents and stacks of paper everywhere. Why??
Oh-- and this is a true story: Awhile back, our management put out a paper memo, about 20 pages in length, and distributed a copy to every employee (of which there are hundreds.) The topic: "Paper Reduction Act"!

[temptation001]

I figure it has something to do with people not liking to stare at the screen when they are reading long documents. I personally, don't like to do that, and would much rather look at the paper at leisure.

[harry chickpea]

Hi, tech support? My file drawers just crashed.

[Anders15]

They'd be useless in the event of a power outage. Unless they have backup generators which I think produces harmful gases(?) Unless they used things like modified Kindles I don't think it would work. I DO think they should recycle some of their own paper, like old presentation graphs and what not depending on the offices (you may not want your doctor recycling your records) but it could work I think.

[TKramar]

First of all, not everyone has access to a secure computer to access confidential data. Second of all, not everyone trusts data floating around in cyberspace somewhere, that my come up 404 Page Not Found next week.

I asked a question over on the Business forum--"If a company has made your W-2 available to you online, have they done due diligence in providing YOU the form?" I have income from a company that went online last year for employee W-2s...and LAST year, I had problems gaining access to my tax documents.

So the "paperless" office doesn't work for everyone. By the way, it's a tax office, and we go through REAMS of paper, giving clients a packet of 20-30 sheets each, not to mention what we retain.

[Mar0]

I think that paper usage can at the very least be decreased significantly. It disgusts me how much paper we go through at work. If anything, I think that most things could be printed double sided to save paper.

The worst is how much backup accounting documents we have. We have rooms full of accounting papers, stacked in boxes, floor to ceiling. It makes me sick.

[DrEarth]

I love paper. I would rather read paper than a computer screen. However, I do recycle all paper. The better question is, what is a better alternative to producing paper. The answer is hemp.

[tyvin]

Oh, this is definitely one of my pet peeves.
The waste, the space, the cost of keeping real paper is due to the inability of companies to join the tech world on the simplest aspect that would save them thousands.
Electronic fax also can replace that ancient machine everyone uses (think of the ink cost plus the machine cost, the telephone line charge).
The government recently came out with using both sides of the paper to decrease costs.
I see the waste at work when you're told to fax something then you have to make a copy plus send a cover letter then file it all. A couple strokes of the keyboard and all that is not necessary. But that means everyone has to get on the same page and know how to do this and realize the reality that back-up file systems guarantee against this astronomical crash people talk about.
I love my certificates, awards, degrees, card, letters etc... but when it comes to office management of information it should be electronic.
That's oversimplifying it but it will be common soon (hopefully).
If you can't trust an employee in cyberspace; then you can't trust them around the office file drawers either.

[Houston3]

As computer operating systems change and programs change (just upgraded) they will sometimes not open older files..

My new computer operating system will not open some of my older programs... I upgraded the program for the new computer operating system and it caused the work to reflow to an unuseable pile of junk.

So I now have a computer with the old operating system running so I can run the older program..and use my old files...

Many years ago the government had the same problem with Veterans records from Vietnam..

The newer computers would not allow them to be opened.. They had to fix the problem..

Always back up with a hard copy...

[MissingAll4Seasons]

I think that most offices only need one hardcopy of any document for back-up/filing purposes (printed double-sided of course), and the rest could be distributed electronically. Instead of sending a long paper memo to everyone's desk/inbox... send an interoffice email and tell them the paper copy is posted in the lunchroom or mailroom if they want to read it.

But, I've got an even better question for you.... why are there even so many offices still being used? With the large amount of "white collar" information only jobs nowadays, why are there still centralized offices where people have to commute to work and spend money keeping a facility operating?! Really. The majority of these people rarely need to physically talk to or work with their office mates, they spend the majority of their time on the phone or on the computer. Why not scale down to a single office for meetings, etc and let everyone telecommute? If if the company paid for every employee's broadband connection and computer, even a stipend for additional power consumption, they'd still save money by eliminating the cost of maintaining an office, utilities and liability insurance! And that's not even accounting for the more global impacts -- reduction of commuter traffic & subsequent fuel consumption, lower taxes because less roads would need to be expanded and maintained (or increased public transportation made available either).