The life of an office paper:
1. It is brought into the office.
2. Text is printed on it. Someone reads it and uses it for quite a short interval of time.
3a. It is filed into a folder, where it gathers dust for as long as the office stands.
3b. It is thrown/burned away.
3c. It is recycled via the long way: a new paper is made. Chances are, this option is the less favoured one.
3d. The other side is reused. My husband keeps bringing them home so that the kids can use it for their drawings. Also he makes his students write their written essays on used paper.
But now!
Take a look at this.
I am amazed!
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Are you, too? Or do you see any drawbacks? Will people not use this new type of paper in the hope that the printed material would need more time for reading than 24hours? What can be the ratio of paper that is printed with the intention of one single look? Drafts? Emails?
14 megjegyzés:
That looks great for office memos, etc. It certainly would make workers more efficient about reading the memos....
I wonder if there is a limit on how many times a paper can be written on. The "ink" is still there, it just changes color.
Neat idea!
That's awesome. I think it would really come in handy for James Bond.
I try to limit the amount of paper I use at the office and have thought about bringing it home for my daughter to draw on. Also, we have a pretty good recycling program.
Paul
Aine,
The official site says this special paper can be used for up to 100 times.
What makes one wonder is the type of ink: it means chemicals, or might mean chemicals.
Now the decision is ours.
We can either
- use less paper AND re-use old paper as a drawing surface OR burn used paper in ovens
- use this one special paper, risking the leaking of harmful materials at the end of the 100-use cycle...I don't know about this paper containing harmful substances, this is just what I assume....
- minimize paper use by refraining from printing just ANYthing.
Paul,
The official site says it was inspired by a cartoon movie:)
Some offices are great about having some recycling!
I'm wondering whether the anal-retentive nature of a lot of people in management will rule out such paper. Another problem is going to be that people will either have to use two separate printers--one with regular paper and one with temporary--or keep switching paper. It's going to be a hard sell.
A comprehensive recycling program is needed in either case.
I wonder if the cartoon was "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," with the disappearing-reappearing ink.
It's a cool idea, but from the law firm perspective, it might be difficult to decide ahead of time which documents you want to be permanent and which can be temporary. Also, lawywers love to write notes on documents. That would defeat the purpose.
I think it is a great idea for some people... I am very concious of not wasting paper and often wonder why people print stuff out when you can just read it on the screen....
Szelsofa:
I'm having trouble thinking of the times when such paper would come in useful for me. Typically, if I print something out, it's going to be needed for at least a month (as in notes for an article or story.)
But it's still super-cool and would make me totally feel like a techno-geek. Love it!
Angelique
Steve,
those technical details are making me less certain about this new product as well.
On the other hand, this oes not teach people to actually save paper. It's like giving a low-fat, low-colesterol, low-everything icecream to an obese person instead of making him eat less and/or exercise more.
Jason,
Absolutely.
I think that those materials that are printed for one single view only should be eliminated instead.
Melly,
There must be areas where it can be useful, I agree. For those who print out emails and/or drafts, knowing it will be thrown away the next day it is a great idea.
Angelique,
Just imagine how kids would like it! It's like a dream came true, isn't it?
I'd love to have a stack myself, too :))
i'd agree with steve on this issue... people prefer the familiarity and trustworthiness of paper so we'd be trying to work out which documents are worthy of which treatment... somehow i don't think this reuseable paper is a viable option for most documents, but of course i could be wrong in a world in which the attention span dwindles toward zero at moments...
keep well...
The more I think about it Bart, the more I am convinced that this is just a fun-thingy.
It is the approach of people that should be changed.
yes, but what if it erases itself too soon?
That's when things go wrong I guess...
That's why people should generally use less paper. Monitors provide us with brilliant visibility and clear pictures.
An interesting idea, though I'm not sure how practical it is.
My daughters also draw on the back of used paper and we recycle. I try to teach them not to waste anything. I told them that a tree is cut for each sheet of paper and I think it impressed them a lot because they keep asking me about it. :-)
You are doing a great job in educating your daughters, Vesper.
That is a very important message for the youth.
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