ABSTRACT
The world’s population has catapulted from 1 billion in 1830 to 5.6 billion in 1995, and it is expected to double to 11 billion by the year 2030. Without any change in current conditions and habits, consumption automatically rises in direct proportion to the population. Industry has introduced new machines, technologies, and convenience tools that have made record profits for their companies while inflicting often irreversible harm on the environment. Office automation brought with it the vision of the “paperless office,” a vision that information would be created, transmitted, shared, and stored electronically. Computer users print drafts, reports, and hard copies of files without a second thought to the resources being used. Computerized organizations often find themselves with more paper than ever. In 1990, over 5 million photocopiers in the United States made close to 500 billion copies using almost 2 million tons of paper.
