Did you know that the average US office employee can get through as much as 10,000 sheets of paper in a single year? When this is scaled up across all employees working within even a very small-sized business it amounts to an eye-watering number.

All businesses, big and small, should look to save paper not only because it can save them a lot of money but also because it can have less of an impact on the environment. So if you think your paper usage is still a little too high then here are 5 things you can do to help reduce it.

1. Store all documents electronically

The easiest way to reduce printing is not to print at all. If your company is still in the habit of printing and filing as a storage solution then it’s time to change to Cloud Solutions. By storing all of your documents electronically on the cloud not only will you have access to them from anywhere in the world with an internet connection but you’ll be saving a ton of physical space and paper wastage too. We all know that 99% of the documents we have filed in the office never get looked at, so they may as well not be looked at online instead.

2. Reuse scrap paper as draft paper

There’s always a lot of waste paper hanging around the office from letters, misprints and draft documents etc. This paper could be repurposed as scrap paper. Keep a scrap paper pile for making notes, doing any drawings and conducting any brainstorms on and also use it for any non-essential draft printing to save on using up valuable quality paper. When you’re done with the reused scrap paper, you will have given it a second lease of life and can then recycle it.

3. Print double-sided rather than single-sided

Printing double-sided can help to reduce your paper usage by half, which is an instant improvement. Encourage all employees to print double-sided as standard unless absolutely necessary.

4. Build a paperless culture

The best way to ensure that everyone in your workplace is saving paper on a day to day basis is by building it into your workplace culture. Clearly define your company values and include one on working sustainably and consciously to help reduce unnecessary paper wastage. Ensure that your office is also well equipped to support proper recycling processes by providing plenty of recycling bins and opportunities for people to use draft paper.

5. Proof and preview

It may never be possible to cut out printing in your workplace altogether but you can make sure that when you do print you are careful to avoid mistakes.  Proofread and preview every document very carefully to avoid mistakes and misprints which will cause you to need to print more than one version.

You can use browser extensions such as Grammarly to help you with your spelling, punctuation and grammar and always have a third party read the document as they can often pick up mistakes that your eyes have missed.