3 ways to reduce paper waste today

In 2018, Americans disposed of 67.4 million tons of paper products, making up 23.1 percent of municipal solid waste. The average office worker contributed almost two pounds of paper waste per day. You can cut down on paper waste by migrating your documents to a digital collaboration tool and cloud storage solution like Dropbox. You don't have to wait for Earth Day to do your part. Just follow these three steps to get started today.

Organize important documents digitally

Are you tired of printing, sorting, and storing your financial, health, or other key documents jammed into files or drawers? Go paperless by requesting digital statements whenever possible and uploading them right into your Dropbox. Then with everything in one location, you can create an organized digital filing system that allows you to quickly find and share documents (think vaccine records, insurance claims, tax documents, etc.) when you need them, even from a mobile device.

Have existing paperwork? The Dropbox app has a built-in document scanner that gives you the power to turn hard copies into PDFs. Then, instead of reprinting the same document 10 times because you keep losing it, back up everything to the cloud automatically.

Sign, seal, deliver online

Printing and sending documents or commuting to meet in person to sign contracts, lease agreements, or financial documents is no longer necessary. Instead, stop wasting paper and time by using Dropbox Sign, a faster, more earth-friendly way to sign documents. 

Because you already store your important documents in Dropbox, you can send them to eSign right from your Dropbox account, save signed copies, and manage all your folders and files in one place. So forget the pen-and-paper, and sign online without sacrificing legality.

Swap hard copies for shared digital docs

Instead of printing multiple copies to share meeting notes, vacation plans, or recipes, move your collaboration into digital documents, like Dropbox Paper. Unlike real paper, Paper allows you to gather feedback, assign tasks, make to-do lists, leave comments, and more in real-time, without any paper waste. There's no need to print when everyone you're teaming up with can work simultaneously on the same document in the cloud.

Small actions have a way of adding up to something big. When you find a solution to an existing problem that helps reduce your environmental footprint and saves energy and time, we all win without sacrificing anything. Doing your part for the planet doesn't have to feel like work if we all simply rethink how we work.