Thing 1: I remember sitting in a meeting four years ago with a client discussing an annual report of theirs that I was working on at the time. "I wish we didn't have to print the bugger" they said. "We'd save a fortune on printing and save all those trees and energy... why can't people just read a bloody PDF or web site on screen?" Legally, Australian companies are obliged to print their annual report (even an abridged version) – most post it online as well and some make it an option for shareholders to receive a complete printed version if they wish.
If I mentioned the name of the above company you wouldn't believe me. It's quite an ironic statement given what they do. (I nearly fell off my seat at the time). But they're completely right: for this type of information, "read a bloody PDF on screen".
People tend to flick through annual reports (from my experience) then toss it in the (recycle) bin. Sorry trees.
Thing 2: We've just finished work on a prospectus for a new company that's launching. It was a mad completely insane rush to get it all done on time. The PDF of the prospectus has been available online for a week. Now I'm not sure if there is a legal reason for this, but many investors won't invest till they hold the printed prospectus in their hands. The prospectus will be held onto for a while, then it's tossed. Sorry trees. Not too sure why investors can't "read a bloody PDF on screen" either.
"Pulp and paper is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land in both Canada and the US. Paper manufacturing is the third largest user of fossil fuels worldwide and the single largest user of water per pound." Source: Reach for Unbleached Foundation (see Design can Change).
Thing 3: Design Can Change.
Below is an excerpt from George Monbiot's Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. A most interesting and well-researched series of ideas (as indeed the entire book is). If you found Tim Flannery's We Are the Weather Makers especially interesting, Monbiot's book will definitely be worth hunting down. Heat focuses more on the European (especially the UK-based) scenario and where Flannery writes in a rather avuncular, dinner conversation-like tone, Monbiot tackles the world of climate change head-on, with an ardent intensity.
