'Think before you print' messages are 'just bull,' CEO of paper company says

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

Domtar Corp. is getting frustrated with those “think before you print” messages at the bottom of so many e-mails.

Now the paper giant is planning a North American ad campaign to urge computer users to hit the print button – often.

The campaign – called Put It On Paper – is aimed at countering what Domtar’s top executive says are the more “simplistic messages” about alleged forest destruction, which induce consumer guilt over the use of paper to print out e-mails and web pages.

John Williams, the president and chief executive officer of the Montreal-based fine-paper and pulp company, says the “think before you print” messages are “just bull” and he wants people to feel better about using paper responsibly.

... Mr. Williams’ comments did not go down well in some environmental circles.

... “To go against the current with this kind of campaign is to go backwards,” (said Melissa Filion, acting Quebec director for Greenpeace Canada.) “We should be encouraging reduction of paper use and use of recycled paper.”

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/put-it-on-paper-domtar-ads-urge/article1547297/

[Renew Deal]

1. I don't think anyone cares

People print what they want.

[hobbit709]

2. 95% of what I save is NOT printed

I print only the things I need a hard copy for-like my tax return, other legal documents, maybe one in a thousand emails gets printed-if that many.

[tanyev]

3. I thought it was from the Onion at first.

:crazy:

[surrealAmerican]

4. So, according to him, "don't think, just print it" would be ...

..."using paper responsibly"?

[zipplewrath]

7. Actually, didn't you read?

His statement was "put it on paper". That's a tad bit different than "don't think....". It's a self serving principal, that's for sure. But as others have stated, the vast majority of information with which I deal is NOT printed, so the whole "think before your print" schtick is aimed at a relatively small portion of the information. I think both sides could benefit a bit from some actual statistical data on what is getting printed that shouldn't be, and what people are not printing that should be.

[MindPilot]

5. In other news the Replacement Toner Cartridge Alliance applauds the move.

They were joined by the American Printer Technician's Union in praising the campaign to urge users to print more.

The radical anti-printing group calling itself "PC Load Letter" demonstrated outside of HP headquarters.

[Zywiec]

6. Others are applauding the move

[blueamy66]

8. I usually only print 1 page, no matter how long the e-mail

if I need info from page 2, I jot it down

I cannot stand those disclaimers that people have at the bottom of their e-mails. I don't care what it says and it's a waste of time, paper and ink.

[iris27]

9. Even though we are recycling a higher percentage of paper right

now than ever before, we are also logging for and producing more virgin paper than ever before. We need to lower our *overall* paper use if we hope to have any environmental impact.

I have a colleague who prints every page of every single e-mail that's in a certain category...even when it's the product of several replies back and forth, and thus has 10-20 pages. *sigh*

I try to keep scrap that's only used on one side, and print on that if the document isn't something that's going outside the office.