Go paperless
Reduce the footprint of your letterbox
Your Challenge
Look at the items you are receiving in the post. It could be important things like bills, bank statements or updates from your favourite charity. There might also be junk mail or catalogues from companies you never buy from anymore, which go straight into the recycling.
Everything has a carbon footprint, but items received through the post (particularly bulky items like catalogues), have a larger carbon footprint than their digital alternatives. It’s still nice to receive some things through the post, but your challenge is to reduce the amount coming through your letterbox.
The first step is to do a mail audit over the next month. Note down what you receive and which of those items you could get in digital form, or unsubscribe from completely to avoid further waste.
For example, small things such as:
- Switching to digital bank statements or bills;
- Choosing digital updates from charities and other organisations and;
- Opting out of junk mail.
Why you're doing this
Going paperless not only reduces the environmental impact of letters and packages, it can also help businesses reduce their costs and carbon footprint. This is especially important for charities. Receiving electronic bank statements and bills can also be more convenient and secure, as they’re safely stored in a digital portal rather than around your home, and you won’t need to securely shred them when you throw them away.
How you'll make a difference
A study by the Bank of America found that if customers switched their bank statements to digital instead of physical, they would save 67g of carbon emissions and roughly 1 litre of water per statement!
By choosing digital you’re saving paper, printing, postage and waste.
Track your progress
in the My Footprint App
Track your progress and discover many more challenges in the My Footprint app. Available for iOS and Android devices.
