I can’t confess to be the most “green” conscious person on the planet but it is something that I believe all of us need to be aware of and do our part to reduce the ecological footprint that we create. Recently my daughter was working on a school project and we had to identify the size of the ecological footprint that our family creates. I think we fared pretty well but still came in at a rank that would require the planet to be 4.9 times bigger if everyone lived like our family (http://footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/). The average for the United States is 8.0 and this really got me to thinking about the impact that we have on our planet from both an individual and business perspective.
The real estate industry has long been known (and mocked) for our over reliance on the volume of paper that is required to complete a transaction. From the multi-paged purchase agreement, the addendums and mortgage documents I feel like a small forest is required for each transaction. That doesn’t even begin to address the volume of junk mail we receive each day or the amount of paper that we consume simply printing a document from our computer so we can read it (come on, we all do it).
So what can I do to help? We are a small business that in the relative scheme of things is fairly low on the footprint scale. That being said, we are still in an industry that could benefit by the adoption of a truly “paperless process” for efficiency as well as ecologically. While we may be a small company we are in a pivotal role as an influencer in both the technology and consumer facing fronts of the real estate industry.
The idea of going paperless has been around for decades and there is always some reason why we want to have a paper record of a certain transaction. I want to share with you my commitment to remain as paper free as possible for the next 6 months. It may sound easy on the surface but think about how often we write a note, make a list, print something out to read…or sign only to rescan the document and digitally send it somewhere.
I begin this journey with two simple steps. The first is the adoption of the Microsoft Surface computer. The second is the utilization of a digital notebook to do away with the “to do” note pad that I have carried for years. I’ve selected OneNote and not because I am a sponsored Microsoft user but because it came loaded on the Surface. I chose that device because it not only has hand-writing recognition but allows me to consolidate 3 devices (desktop, laptop and tablet) into one device. Although that may not represent a reduction in paper it has to improve the footprint size too, right?
So here we go on a digital journey. Look for updates from time to time on the trials and tribulations of the move to paperless. Have you tried similar practices? I would appreciate any insights or tips that you have come across in ways to improve our reduction of paper use in business.
