In 2008, the Aloha State Senate decided to institute a program to tackle government spending and unnecessary waste by issuing a policy: no more paper in government and legal affairs unless "absolutely necessary."
Now, two years since this order was mandated by Senate leadership, the results are in for the savings estimate — and the figures are impressive: the state has saved more than $1.2 million... 8 million pages... and the equivalent of more than 800 trees.
And the savings don't stop at the trees spared from the paper mill...
The Senate was able to use the millions of dollars saved from this effort to support its budget and prevent salary cuts for Senate staff.
(It should be noted that the Hawaii House has taken action in reducing paper consumption and waste as well, but not nearly as firmly as the Senate has... Meanwhile, the House suffered up to 20% pay cuts this year for some of its employees last year.)
The transmission to go from a paper-reliant office culture to one that avoids using paper at most costs was not an easy one.
Twenty-five members of Senate and its employees had to decide to implement and then personally abide by the task before them: to go from the way things had always been done to the way they would be done now — and going forward.
Before this program was instituted, paper copies of public records were standard procedure. Paper files in metal cabinets lined office walls; bills were all paid and recorded via "hardcopy" (read: paper form); millions of photocopies of written public testimony were handed to legislators each year, only to find their resting place in a trash bin or — as one can only hope — a recycling bin.
Senate Clerk Carol Taniguchi said of the Senate's initiative to go paperless, "Doing it this way was so different and daunting at first... Now it really seems to be a way of life."
The program involved replacing paper with documents on CDs; storing and filing bills, testimonies, and committee reports online; and mandating that legislators and the public use a personal printer if they wanted paper copies of documents. These measures greatly reduced paper use in day-to-day business.
The use of heavy-duty copy machines filled with paper and ink paid for by Mr. Taxpayer was also kept to a minimum, and the Senate purchased laptop computers and wireless internet, as well as document-reading software, for employees. The price tag for their green upgrade: $100,000 — a fraction of the over one million estimated savings.
As with any change, there were those who were less than pleased to be handed a disc with electronic documents instead of a familiar Xerox copy. Many lobbyists prefer to pay for paper copies, and interest groups feel that a program such as this one simply allows the government to force the cost of paper and ink onto them, saving federal dollars but affecting the people's pockets.
I readily admit that I am a child of the internet age. It is hard for me to fathom an office culture that relies on paperwork or filing. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a USB drive handy to store a document electronically — my preference to printing. The only bill I pay with paper is the check I write each month to my landlord.
Our publishing office in Baltimore has suffered from a broken printer for over a week. This has not stopped work flow or crippled our publishing schedule in the slightest. My colleagues and I rely mostly on electronic documentation and online filing. And our business, ironically, once relied on paper... We are, after all, a publishing company...
But I do recognize the paper-centered office world. An afternoon visit to any state department office provides me with an experience in time travel. The Maryland Vehicle Associate is a fine example: paper forms, thousands of copies, stacks of records piled high on desks and countertops while people wait in plastic chairs to get a single signature or stamp of approval.
I realize that the paperclip and filing cabinet system is still heavily relied on in many offices around the country... But reducing and eliminating paper waste wherever possible seems so obvious a way to save money and resources, I am baffled that more state government offices have not mandated programs such as this one by the Honolulu-based branch.
My point is that, as difficult as it is to move away from a "that's just the way it is" or "this is how things have always been done" mentality... we might want to prioritize. If not for the environment, the overall benefit from a program such as this comes down to saving a different kind of paper: the green kind.
If a single branch of state government can save $1.2 million dollars over 24 months' time — the equivalent of 800 trees — think of how much of those savings could be put toward our national debt with a national effort...
Brigid
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