Due to the dynamics of our daily work we are "almost forced" to use paper. We do understand that not all jobs can do without paper, even if it is only for taking notes, but how can we reduce this consumption and be more sustainable?
Apart from working on sustainability in the fashion and hospitality environment, I am a consultant and teacher. Many times I need to use paper to take notes, prepare classes both online and in person. The consumption of paper has a negative influence on the environment; on the one hand, trees are cut down, which means an increase in deforestation and on the other hand, certain chemical products are used for the treatment when manufacturing this paper, and to reduce the environmental impact created by its use.
Personally, I recommend my students to always use their electronic devices to take notes both in my classes as in any other, and in my case, the submissions of works and projects are only accepted in electronic mode.
It is a way to teach and promote sustainability, in this case with paper in a responsible way. In the case of unavoidably having to use paper, I always try to do this in a sustainable and responsible way, based on my principles. For example, if I need to correct texts, I always try to do it directly on the computer and if it were necessary to print, I would do it after having done the corrections.
Use recycled / written paper to reuse it, always write double-sided… these would be some examples to use on a daily basis if we have to use paper. If we have to print we can do it with the eraser option in which less ink is used or we can also print on used paper which in turn has one of its sides free; small measures that help sustainability and the responsible use of paper.
However, a couple of years ago I discovered the imSTONE brand, and since then I have not written on any paper again.
Its products are made of natural white stone powder so they do not need bleaching as in the preparation of conventional paper obtained from trees, which also means the non-use of chemicals that can harm the environment. This paper is very soft to the touch and for writing and is at the same time very resistant.
But we are talking about resistance not only to breaking easily or not, which in this case is not the case, but also resistance to liquids. What does that mean or what benefit do we find in paper being resistant to water or any other liquid?
An easy example would be something that happens to all of us, when working on paper, taking notes, writing about something and right next to it is your glass of water, soda ... and without realizing it you hit it and the liquid spills on the paper, uff what a disaster !! and now that? Well, the resistance that I was referring to earlier is the following, take a dry cloth or kitchen paper to soak the liquid and remove it and you will see that the ink will not have run; you will not have lost your work. As long as the liquid is not hot, since in that case it is likely that we would lose what we were doing.
Imagine that you want to delete some writing that you do not like or you were just taking notes that you no longer need, you only will have to use hot water and let it dry, in this way we are saving paper, avoiding the abusive cutting of trees and helping sustainability.
Among its products we can find different types of notebooks in size and color, all great ideas. My sister has a couple of these imSTONE notebooks and according to her, it works perfectly for her; as a matter of fact she does not use any other type of notebook anymore for her notes or work.
And you, what is your contribution to the environment?