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To reduce paper use and set up a good paper use system, you should:

1.1. Undertake a paper audit to get better understanding about the purchasing and using paper in your office. This will give you an indication of priority areas to focus on.
1.2. Ask your purchasing officer to contact your paper supplier to get monthly paper purchases, costs and amount of recycled and non-recycled paper purchased.
1.3. Communicate your findings, ideas, report via email, internal e-newsletter and or at staff meetings.
1.4. Set a target for reducing paper use clearly with high discipline
1.5. Cancel subscriptions to magazines, newspaper or journals that you no longer read.
1.6. Replace newspaper subscription with e-news
1.7. Track how many reams of paper you are using and benchmark regularly. Calculate how many reams used per person and communicate with staff about ways to reduce this number.
1.8. What type of paper is being purchased? Does this paper can be recycled? What are the reasons for purchasing this type?
1.9. Does paper used efficiently? Does all staff print on both sides? Does all staff know how to reduce print?  Do some individuals or groups use more than others? Why?
1.10. If possible, pay your bill by credit card or direct deposit with your online banking so you can reduce the paper use for printing the invoice; use an envelope, pay for postage and use a paper cheque to make a payment
1.11. If you need to join a seminar, a conference and need to fill the booking form from your office, fill it and return the booking form by email, not by fax or mail
 

2.The strategies of Cutting Down the Paper use

2.1. Do you really need to print it?
You can easily reduce unnecessary paper wastage by:
*  Defaulting your computer print settings to double side print.
*  Printing multiple pages on one sheet (you can easily choose to print 2 or more pages of a document onto one sheet of paper simply by selecting 'Multiple pages per sheet' in your print properties).
*  Resizing your page layouts by increasing the margin size and decreasing font size to maximize words per page.

2.2. Reducing printing because you care
*  Photocopiers now have all sorts of wonderful paper saving features so press a few buttons, read the instructions and learn how to utilize them!
*  Most photocopiers can double side and also enlarge or reduce the copy image.
*  Check out your photocopier instructions, print out the relevant pages about "making 2-sided copies" or "reducing the copy image" and stick them on the wall near the photocopier - or ask your work colleagues for assistance.

2.3. Using paper saving office machines
*  Ensure that the printer you purchase can automatically double side print (most current models do).
*  Get the photocopier technician to default copier/printers to double side print.
*  Buy a multifunction device that prints, copies, faxes and scans - scanning documents can negate the need to print off copies.

2.4. Filing information and emails electronically
Think before you print! There is no need to print out every email or document you produce. Only print out documentation or emails that are essential to be filed as hard copy for permanent record. Use your Outlook folder system to file important emails that you may need to look at later.

2.5. Reuse one side of the printed paper
*  Place a paper tray next to every printer, photocopier and fax machine to collect paper used on one side only to reuse as notepaper.
*  Dedicate a paper tray in your printer for one side used paper (ensure staples are removed).
*  Collect used paper and get UniPrint to collect and make up into A4 or A5 sized notepads that are glued at the top. UniPrint have kindly offered to do this for free.

2.6. Use paperless system for meetings
If you have access to a laptop and projector consider using it for meetings rather than printing out pages of agendas and minutes. There is an added bonus of being able to type minutes then and there. Documents may be altered as changes are discussed and you may also be able to access the internet at meetings.