“World Paper Free Day aims to challenge us to take solid steps on the path to using less paper, eliminating the waste and confusion that piles of office paper can create.”

Today, 6 November, is World Paper Free Day.

Many young people around the world now understand the reasons behind why we should go paper-free. It’s good for the environment. And today’s youth are increasingly showing us that they care – and that they want to do something to change the path this planet is on. There has been a realisation that if we don’t change, things are going to get ugly.

The question remains, why do so many organisations, businesses and corporations still use paper in their offices?

The IPF has teamed up with the organisers behind World Paper Free Day to get you some answers.

About World Paper Free Day

World Paper Free Day may sound like the initiative of an environmental charity like Greenpeace, but that’s not the case. World Paper Free Day was started by AIIM, a company that provides research and support for information professionals. AIIM has a strong history of representing the information management community and helping them to understand the challenges that they face – such as the challenge of paper-centric processes.

This makes AIIM the perfect organisation to run World Paper Free Day. They are calling on companies around the world to pledge to go paper free for one day and begin to understand how easy it can be to reduce the amount of paper that we generate in our everyday work lives. AIIM president John Mancini said:

“Slowly but surely, organisations are coming round to the idea that digitising much of the content and information flowing through their business can be beneficial. We are never going to eliminate paper completely, but when it becomes clear that going paper-free delivers return-on-investment as well as helping the environment, businesses will be more willing to invest in the technologies that let them go paper-free.”

New research conducted by AIIM showed…

Only 22% of businesses have an environmental policy to reduce paper.

But 57% of companies are committed to digital transformation.

The challenge?

Nearly 40% of organisations said that there is a general lack of understanding of paper-free options.

With AIIM’s guidance, companies everywhere can begin to understand the things they can do to become more environmentally-friendly, while also improving their professional systems in big ways. AIIM’s independent research shows that reducing the amount of paper that companies use can deliver huge benefits in efficiency, collaboration and well-being.

It’s a win-win for everyone.

IPF’s role in fighting against paper

IPF believes that young people should be at the forefront of the fight against excessive paper-use in offices. So we’re thrilled to announce a partnership with AIIM that will bring the world’s youth everything you need to know about going paper free.

While the environmental aspect of going paper-free is an important one, we aim to provide you with an alternative approach to tackling the issue. While a lot of us care very deeply about the environment and going green, unfortunately, for many people the green aspect is not enough to change the way they work completely.

With AIIM’s guidance, IPF will be producing informative articles about the process behind going paper-free – and what businesses face when they do. The series will include useful interviews with AIIM experts, summaries of their fascinating research, and case studies with companies who have reduced their use of paper – and how others could follow suit. It will also highlight the challenges that come with going paper-free and how these can be tackled with minimal effort on the company’s part.

What will our partnership with AIIM achieve? It will…

  • Provide young people with a solid understanding of paper-use in offices
  • Explain the reasoning behind why many are reluctant to give up paper-centric processes
  • Demonstrate the best ways to approach companies and encourage them to go paper-free

We hope you will join us as we launch our Paper Free feature in 2015. Keep an eye on our website for the launch of our article series, as well as future projects that we hope to conduct with AIIM to help young people everywhere become more involved in the quest to go paper-free.

Find out more about World Paper Free Day by visiting AIIM’s website, or following the dedicated Facebook and Twitter pages.