[LINK] Greenhouse contribution of letters

[Richard Chirgwin]

My feelings exactly, Rick.

The "green" scam is currently the easiest to sell, because people seem 
to be happy to swallow it without giving green claims much scrutiny. And 
the computer industry has long so long beaten the "dead trees" drum that 
people are inclined to accept the slogan without examining any data.

Here's an item from 2005; I would suppose that the trend still holds 
true even though the figures are obsolete:
http://www.nafi.com.au/media/view.php3?id=343
In the period 2001 to 2005, Australia's paper consumption rose by 25%. 
And that period covers the start of the broadband era... I would also 
bet a shiny new dollar that a significant chunk of that growth in paper 
consumption is in packages of Reflex going out the door at Woolworths 
like there's no tomorrow.

The bills end up being printed on "dead trees" whether the printer is in 
an industrial facility or in the home.

Richard

Rick Welykochy wrote:
> Craig Sanders wrote:
>
>> another factor to consider is: what are the unintended consequences of
>> providing your email address to your bank or other company?
>>
>> my bank, and most of my recurring bills (electricity, gas, phone, etc)
>> have an option for me to provide an email address to get my invoice via
>> email. i have declined to provide one in every case because i know that
>> if I provide it, they will at some point decide that they have the right
>> to spam me. 
>
> I believe they offer this facility for a simpler reason: externalising
> costs. Was is a Westpac ad the other that mentioned the bank did not have
> to print about 5,000,000 statements last year because of this "service" ?
>
> What Westpac has done is saved a not inconsiderable amount of 
> infrastructure
> and resources (esp. money, postage and staff time) by externalising the
> cost of printing statements.
>
> Their claims of being "greener" for doing this fall on jaundiced ears. 
> What
> do they think the customer does with the statement once it is received by
> email? It is, of course, printed out and filed. Firing up a home printer,
> getting it to work, alleviating jams, etc. multiplied by 5,000,000
> such attempts implies that the net result is:
>
> (*) more paper wastage (since home printers do jam)
>
> (*) more electrical power consumed - printing a batch of 100,000 
> statements
>     is going to be far more energy efficient than 100,000 individual
>     customers firing up a home printer and doing the same once each
>
> (*) the customer ends up paying for Westpac's previous printing costs
>
> (*) Westpac saves $$$ on postage and handling. Add up 100,000 x each
>     individual's time spent on receiving and successfully printing their
>     statement. Add to that the many individuals who will not succeed
>     and require a call to the help desk for instructions.
>
> What a brilliant "green" sounding scam. Only it ain't that brilliant,
> since anyone with 1/2 a brain can see through it, and it definitely
> is not green.
>
> I for one enjoy receiving printed invoices and statements. They go 
> straight
> into the filing cabinet ready for year end accounting.
>
> As for printing emails? Not this cadet. I doubt I've ever printed an 
> email.
> Heck, I haven't owned a printer since 1995.
>
> On another similar note. Have you ever tried to deal with a fax addict?
> I have many times. I point out that I am a paperless office. And that it
> makes no sense to do the following:
>
>   1. Digitally prepare a document on a computer
>
>   2. Print the document.  DING! paper wastage.  DING! analogue conversion
>
>   3. Fax the document.   DING! resource wastage!  DING! loss of precision
>
>   4. Receive the fax.    DING! resource and paper wastage!  DING! loss 
> of clarity
>
>   5. Read the fax and key (some of) it back into a computer.  DING! 
> time wastage and digital conversion.
>
> Compare that to the following paperless faxless scenario, one I always
> insist on, sometimes to groans and moans.
>
>   1. Digitally prepare a document on a computer
>
>   2. Email the document
>
>   3. Receive the document. Done.
>
> No analogue conversion. No possibility of error during conversion. No 
> resources wasted.
> No fax software. No fax hardware. No extra phone line.
>
>
> cheers
> rickw
>