Paperless Whenever You Can

These days most people are connected to the internet, have emails, read the news online, search for services online, book trips and hotels over the internet, find places using electronic maps, pay bills, buy gifts, check the weather, look up a restaurant and keep in touch with friends also over the web. If you are one of those, why not go paperless all the way?

The benefits are many:

• Less paper to add to the junk mail pile
• Less shredding to do
• Less paper to put in the recycle bin
• More flexibility in accessing the information -- access it from multiple sources (different computers, cell phones)
• More convenient -- have information at your fingertips, easy to find, share, forward, store, back up, manage, and reproduce
• Faster response -- no need to wait for statements in the mail
• Easier to read -- you may quickly find what you are looking for and even customize your views
• More options to you -- you can even print the information if you really need

Most companies currently offer you the option and may even give you incentives for going the electronic billing route. The companies save and you save too! Other companies make donations to charities or causes if you choose to go paperless. AT&T, for example, has teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation to help the Boy Scouts of America plant trees in South Carolina. Instead of cutting trees, you will be helping to plant more tress!

What about things that you wish you never received? More and more companies are creating ways for you to choose what you would like to receive at home. They stop wasting resources and you have less hassle. The Yellow Pages, for example, now have a website where you sign up and may opt out of the many directories you currently get at your doorstep. If you do not use the printed directories, visit http://www.yellowpagesoptout.com/homepage and choose what you would like to be delivered to you.

There is also the website to reduce your junk mail. You can register at https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action and opt out from receiving catalogs and other kinds of mail that just end up in the bin. 

There are many ways to go paperless and these are only some I have learned about. It is a start. I already made my choices and am hoping they will be honored. What about you?

Recycle Brevard!