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Sustainability is a buzzword. I would argue that it is an important buzzword, but what does it really mean? There are various definitions for the word. To simplify: Sustainability means meeting present needs without messing up the environment so future generations aren’t left with the mess to clean up.
So, how does a business help customers be more sustainable? One business that's answering this question is Adobe, which helps its customers ditch paperwork. And paperwork is still being generated in this digital age. In the U.S., 30 billion documents are printed annually, Kevin Lynch, vice president of document services for Adobe, told TriplePundit. Here are a few more staggering facts:
Sometimes all it takes is for a customer to see the impact of his or her choices -- in this case: how much water, waste and wood they will save by not printing. GreenMeter for Document Cloud allows customers to enter in the amount of paper they would normally print and see how much water, waste and wood they'd save by not printing. For example, a business that reduced printing by 10,000 documents would save 11,427 gallons of water, 961 pounds of waste and 3,725 pounds of wood.
"It's staggering the amount of resources it takes to print something,” Vince Digneo, global sustainability strategist for Adobe, told us. “The point of this whole product is that you don't have to print. You could create a document digitally. You can share it directly in Document Cloud. You can save it. You can edit it. You can sign it. And you never have to have a physical piece."
Here are a few more examples:
There is a multiplying effect when a number of companies decide to print less paper. "One company can make a big difference, but you can imagine in aggregate. It makes a big, big difference,” Lynch said.
His message for companies is simple: “If you are still printing out, signing documents and faxing back papers, that is not very efficient. That needs to change.” Moving to a product like Document Cloud allows you to create and share a document digitally will help accelerate your business. And it is also good for the environment.
What can your business do to help customers become more sustainable? Tell us about it on Twitter at @TriplePundit.
Image credit: Flickr/David Morris
Gina-Marie is a freelance writer and journalist armed with a degree in journalism, and a passion for social justice, including the environment and sustainability. She writes for various websites, and has made the 75+ Environmentalists to Follow list by Mashable.com.