With HP leading the way, could “forest-positive” paper be a step in changing views on the environmental impact of some stationery products?
Monitoring Your Paper
How many times have you heard the analogy of how many trees must have been chopped down to produce a certain amount of paper?
Just a few months ago Hewlett Packard (HP) set out to turn around the idea that we would have to wave goodbye to a beautiful tree to make sure our office printers had 16 or so reams of office paper when the company’s incoming CEO, Enrique Lores, announced that, in fact, with HP, the opposite will soon be happening.
According to Mr Lores, HP can monitor the type of paper used in its printers and, if the paper has not come from forests that have been planted to become paper, HP will plant trees to compensate for that.
With this initiative, HP is hoping that, with its own branded paper, it’s going to be a case of ‘if you want more trees, use more of its paper’ – supporting the idea of “forest-positive” printing.
In fact, it has been reported that HP is ahead of its own schedule with the initiative and is looking like achieving zero deforestation of its paper-based packaging this year.
Privacy?
Some commentators have, of course, expressed concern about the privacy and security aspects of a printer that monitors what its users are doing, but it’s likely that HP is hoping this can be offset by its good environmental intentions and the fact that there’s an emotional tying-in aspect. Inevitably, there is also a cost for customers of 25 per cent more than alternatives for HP’s branded paper.
Few Paperless Offices
Even though companies like HP are trying to create a ‘forest positive’ perception of printer paper, the digital revolution for business has not brought about the much-anticipated paperless office. Key reasons why this has not happened for many businesses in the UK is that businesses still receive and send ‘important’ and legal/contractual documents as paper (and print them out when they receive them electronically), committing vast quantities existing documents to digital looks daunting, and many smaller businesses simply don’t feel that they have the resources to study how paper is used by their staff or justify the perceived cost of adopting a fully digital solution. Also, let’s face it, paper is useful, convenient, and is universally understood, even by technophobes.
Digital Document Management and the Cloud
That said, with physical space in the workplace, security and GDPR as important considerations many companies have realised the value of the cloud, workflow and document management software trying to reinvent their office set-up to use printer paper where necessary, but to harness the efficiency, convenience and security of the cloud (the annual spending on the cloud is predicted to double in four years – Synergy Research Group figures).
Right now, the reality for many businesses is a marriage between paper and digital which works but is always open to ways in which tools and innovations from the stationery and the digital world can add value and improve productivity and efficiency.
Moving Forward
For further information about how we can help you with paper, and indeed any of your stationery requirements, get in touch today by calling 01923 649 809 or email sales@everythingforyouroffice.co
If you’d like to find out how you can make better use of cloud-based and document management solutions that can provide security, aid collaborative working and streamline your business contact a reputable company such as IT Remedies – IT Support based in Watford.