Now it may seem a bit ironic that a printer and copier company would sponsor a day that has people not using its products, and that point isn't lost on Toshiba, which addresses the issue on its official website for National No-Print Day. On the site the company states, "We're people. People who breath the same air, swim in the same water, and play fetch in the same parks as everyone else. We're people who recognize the earth is an irreplaceable asset."
In addition to that statement, the website features a video starring "Tree", a bearded cubicle-dweller in a tree costume who dutifully works to remind his coworkers about saving paper. Tree gets to take a much deserved break on National No-Print Day and uses that time to skateboard, play basketball, shoot pool, sunbathe and have pillow fights with beautiful women (I swear all of that happens in the video).
Some naysayers may see National No-Print Day as a cheap gimmick by Toshiba to grab some publicity, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't actually consider the idea. Some eye-opening stats come up in the video as well, including the fact that the average office worker uses over 10,000 pages of copy paper every year and wastes over 1,400 prints annually, which is the equivalent to 1.2 trees.
According to a statement from Toshiba America Executive Bill Melo, "We know that approximately 336,000,000 sheets of paper are wasted daily -- that's more than 40,000 trees discarded every day in America. We as individuals and companies are failing to make the link between printing waste and its negative impacts on our landfills, natural resources and the environment."
Toshiba also promises to plant a lot of trees, around 1.5 million by 2025, as long as users take the following pledge:
"Being of sound ink and toner, I honor the sacrifices made by Tree and his leafy colleagues, and do hereby give them the day off on National No-Print Day, the 23rd day of October, 2012, a day on which I will steadfastly refrain from printing, copying and otherwise causing hardworking trees to lose their pulp."Toshiba wants to know...will you take the pledge?
Source: PC World - National No-Print Day: Will You Take the Pledge?
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Sadly, this is just another case of "Greenwashing" - corporations attempting to provide misleading & misguided information to consumers, hoping they will be perceived as environmentally friendly, when they really are not. By pushing for "no print day" and using tag lines like "give tree a day off", Toshiba is inherently implying that using paper is somehow bad for the environment, when in reality, it is a very environmentally friendly form of communication. Paper is biodegradable and not harmful to the environment. It is made from renewable resources (trees) harvested & maintained in environmentally friendly manners. And It is one of the highest recycled consumer products around.
ReplyDeleteBecause paper exists, landowners have turned their lands into forests, for the specific purpose of harvesting those trees for future woood products (i.e. lumber & paper). Whenever trees are harvested, they are also replanted, which is why there are more trees in US forests today than there were 25 or 40 years ago. And as long as there continues to be a demand for wood products, those landowners will continue to maintain their forests. But if we move to a paperless society, what will be the repurcussions to our forests? More than likely, that will reduce the demand for tree products, and so those landowners will seek out alternative uses for their land. They may re-purpose them for development, farming, mining, or any other number of potential uses. But most assuredly, they will probably remove the trees to make room for the next use of the land. So a paperless future will become a future without trees.
So Toshiba's push for the paperless office and less demand for paper products (to save a tree) will actually begin to condemn our forests to future decimation. Not exactly"environmentally friendly" results.
And while it's too bad that bloggers such as this one could not think this whole issue through to the inevitable end of our forests, I am happy to report that Toshiba has listened to those who have overwhelmingly responded to their ill-conceived promotion, and Toshiba has agreed to halt the National No Print Day campaign. All of the websites, including their facebook page for the promotion, have all been turned off. Thank you, Toshiba, for listening and agreeing to make a change.
Useful info. Hope to see more good posts in the future.
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