Thursday, May 14, 2015

THE PAPERLESS SOCIETY...YOU'RE KIDDING!

Right! Where is the paperless society? It definitely is not anywhere around where I live. One blessing that comes with the end of the election is a reduction in the persuasion confetti that drops through the letter-box. We still get all the other commercial stuff, none of which, is exciting enough to even draw my attention.  Truth to tell, with the bucket loads of advertising that seems to arrive, I am  more likely to automatically filter it out and dump it in the recycling bin.  Recycling....am I, are we, setting ourselves up to let this pesky paper flow go round in ever decreasing circles? 



I no longer need some of the several years worth of paperwork to compare the ups and downs of what I am asked to pay for bills. The pile of paper had done its job and given me the information to put me in a pretty good negotiating position. By dinner time, though triumphant, I was flushed hot and tired with the day's concentrated effort to get costs down without a diminution of what we wanted. 


 My shredder worked overtime this week.  All the shreddings will go be recycled and I expect, one way or another, some will find their way back through my letterbox as advertising material and some, a lot I hope, will become recycled for toilet paper.

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11 comments:

Vincent said...

Not paperless, but less-paper, surely? Email + ebooks alone can account for it. When I want to print something out, I send it to my Kindle instead. We send and receive cards, but must keep the dear postmen busy somehow. Partly through Amazon, & partly through unwanted bumf from charities, phone companies & other utilities. Bookshops go bust but there is more work for paper-recyclers.

I tried to send instructions about direct debits, credit cards etc by letter, & receive their responses in similar manner, instead of being forced to phone them. They find it very difficult to deal with letters, incoming or outgoing. Sometimes no reply, sometimes the same reply three times at intervals.

At my grandmother's house, just after the war, we had no need for paper-recycling companies. She would tear the Radio Times into handy sheets, about 5" x 4", and keep them in a letter-tray on the lavatory wall. I found those visits very educational.

zalandeau said...

Nous vivons dans une société de consommation. Cela signifie : gaspillage, pillage de la planète, pollution, puis extinction de la race humaine emportée par la folie de l'accumulation financière...

ZACL said...

Hi Vincent,

Don't you remember that in a certain not too distant decade past, when computers were the new all singing and dancing future, someone, I forget who, stated we were heading for a paperless office, the corollary for which, became the paperless society. I agree with you that we would have expected less paper, not to be paperless, nevertheless, that is what was hailed as our administrative future.

Indeed, we are using our administrative talents differently, however, I have not yet seen much, if any, change in the amount of paper bumf of many kinds coming through my hands.

The eras of grandparents was different, and I would wager that while everything important was put on paper and also that printing made listening and later watching schedules printable, there was still a lot less paper being circulated.

An interesting, (some tongue-in-cheek) comment Vincent. Thanks

ZACL said...

Merci pour ton reponse Zalandeau. Je comprends ce que tu dit. Tu as raison.

Anonymous said...

It's been talked about for years hasn't it!
I no longer buy newspapers, buy some ebooks rather than paperbacks and don't have a PC printer so my usage has reduced.
Any unwanted paper is always welcome as I shred it and add to the compost heap. Flighty xx

ZACL said...

Hi Mr F,

You're too far away from where I stay to benefit from my shreds of paper. :)

I like books, I could never replace them entirely with an e-reader. Not all e-readers are comfortable to read by. My use will have reduced somewhat by reading some literature electronically.

Do I take it that any letters you may have to write are all written by hand? I write cards.

Snowbird said...

I think we are using more paper, while working for the council some years ago, I noted that huge reports were regularly printed.....I think most companies still print rather than read on screen.
At the rescue we receive about three hundred bin bags of shredded each week, it's vital for our hedgehogs to nestle in, hay and straw would bankrupt us so we depend on such donations....having said that I think the needless use of paper is appalling.xxx

Snowbird said...

P.s....I loved your poppies!xxx

Anonymous said...

Companies still seem rather touchingly wedded to the vain belief that if they put enough brightly-coloured paper through our door they are more likely to get customers. Like you do, their output goes straight into recycling ... although I too find the thought of getting it back again in a different form rather Orwellian. Unless of course it's loo paper, which is an appropriate outcome.

ZACL said...

Hello Snowbird,

I am so glad to hear of the various types of recycling of shredded paper. I agree with your perceptions of current use of paper. Without it though, these other valuable alternative uses of the paper that goes through our society would not be possible. Hm, food for thought.

ZACL said...

Yup, loo paper, shreddings for animal comfort and composting almost makes it worthwhile getting the darn stuff to dispose of, Gilly.

:)