This is part of a sponsored series for Sprint Replenish who is helping us think about going green with our tech.
I’m all about saving trees–hey! I like trees!–so I do my best to avoid overindulgent paper use. Sure, we recycle junk mail as scrap paper for the kids and I click “no receipt” when I’m at the ATM. But thanks to technology and handy gadgets I already use every day, I’ve been able to eliminate even more.
Here are four easy ways that you can significantly decrease the amount of paper you use on a daily basis and live a little greener.
Keep the photos on your computer
I rarely print out photos anymore, mostly because there are so many other options now. Like displaying them on a digital frame or editing them up into high quality videos that you can download and share through services like Animoto. I even recently started a Tumblr blog so family and friends could keep up with family photos digitally. And as it turns out, even the photo-obsessed grandparents don’t miss actual prints.
Use high-end services to send email invitations
At first, I felt a bit uncomfortable sending my kid’s party invitations or even thank-you notes and birthday cards via email. But now there are services like Paperless Post that let you create gorgeous, personalized e-invites and cards that actually
feel as special as the paper ones. Only without the actual paper. I would hope that even Emily Post would approve, or at least, that’s what I tell myself.
Books are so 2010
While turning pages of a book definitely has a certain tactile quality that an e-reader can’t replace, I’m smitten with ease and convenience of my Kindle app for iPhone and iPad as I imagine others are with their dedicated eReaders like NOOK and Kindle. But there are other benefits too that paper books don’t have, like sharing books with friends in far places instantly; and borrowing them from the library without having to leave your house.
Extreme couponing without the scissors
I’m all about deals, discounts, and saving money whenever I can, but having to print coupons or purchase the newspaper and cut them out takes up time I don’t have and uses a lot of paper. Increasingly, retailers and brands are making discounts available to smartphone users, and it’s as easy as uploading handy barcode app or an app like Stickybits, that lets you scan your favorite items and then see reviews and special deals, plus win prizes. You can also scan your store discount cards right into your phone with Cardstar, and even score unadvertised deals made available just to mobile users.
How do you use tech to cut out paper in your life?
