Photo courtesy of Mike Tinnion on Unsplash
Most of us have been indoctrinated to believe that the greatest way to save the environment is by reducing paper use. Paper kills trees, trees are good, and therefore, paper is bad.
In an attempt to move in a “greener” direction, paper has often been replaced with screens. I don’t think this is inherently bad, and I’m not against technology or screens, I’m just also not against using paper.
Paper, in its purest form, is a natural, renewable and biodegradable product. The environmental risk is that we don’t write on pure paper. It’s not trees that make paper bad for the environment – we’ve got trees (and they regrow). The production, distribution and disposal of that paper is what’s bad for the environment. However, the threats are limited compared to those posed by other environmental dangers like oil and plastics. The risks of paper use can be minimized through changes in its production and disposal, making it more sustainable.
Technology has made our lives more convenient. Our backs are fortunate that the days of carrying around big textbooks are far gone. I’m glad that I can type this article on my laptop rather than find a typewriter or be forced to handwrite it. The ability to use ctrl+f on a document is incredible. Yet, there is still value to paper.
Paper is more real than images on a screen. The aesthetics of holding a book, reading a newspaper or getting a letter or card are unmatched. But more important than simple aesthetics, holding a text, physically annotating and hand writing carries actual educational and emotional value. Paper posters hung in residence halls or on bulletin boards are more attractive than screens that switch advertisements every 10 seconds. There’s a societal value in seeing what papers are on display together and having the freedom to hang them.
Seeing the array of events hanging on a board has artistic and cultural significance. You can take it all in rather than stand and wait for a bright artificial Canva template to flash by. Beyond aesthetics, in the age before the screen, anyone could hang posters. To fundraise, advocate for a cause or promote an event, you could print some flyers and hang them up. Now, you’ve got to appeal to the higher powers who control the screens. With paper, people can keep your flyer as a physical reminder, building a personal connection. Graphics today are gone as fast as they come.
It’s not just posters. I’ve recently switched from taking notes on my iPad or laptop to a college-ruled notebook. I’m not tempted to switch between tabs or scroll through my email. I don’t have to worry about what color I’m going to use or miss notes when my Wi-Fi cuts out. Using paper, I don’t have to charge my notebook or worry about whether my pencil has died.
Instead of reading on my computer, I can concentrate on a paper copy. I won’t be distracted by notifications and my boredom won’t get the best of me, going to Instagram or YouTube. The attention span of younger generations is getting increasingly short. Using paper is a solution. Anything I want to read that’s a few pages long, I print. The biggest downside? My print credits are shot.
My way might not be your way, and that’s fine. I’ll do what works for me and you can do what works for you. But my preferences may convince you to use paper, just look at the history.
Almost all we know about our history is from paper records. If these things are locked up on your computer, or worse, the intangible cloud in an account no one can access, how will future generations learn about you? We are leaving no physical trace of our humanity without paper.
Stuff online gets lost all the time, both by accident and purposefully. The value of paper is practical, aesthetic and necessary for the preservation of knowledge. Using technology and using paper are not mutually exclusive. Let’s use both to make our lives easy and give our existence value.
