Paperless revolution still kills trees

Businesses and homes alike are steadily turning toward paperless transactions. The benefits seem obvious. It saves trees, eliminates the pollution that comes from manufacturing paper and reduces the energy used to recycle paper. By some estimates, 16.5 million trees can be saved in the US alone if all the nation’s households switch to electronic billing. There's no need to pay postage and some companies even offer discounts for paperless transactions. The disadvantages have, for the most part, remained hidden.

Our growing reliance on digital media comes at a cost. Our computers, e-books and networks run on electricity and a significant portion of our electricity comes from coal. According to the U.S. Department of Energy report "U.S. Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector", over 90 percent of our electric power is generated by coal. Mountaintop removal coal mining is one of the largest sources of deforestation in the United States and a study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency found that nine out of every 10 nearby streams has been contaminated by mining operations, causing aquatic extinction and rendering the water undrinkable. At current rates of mining, the EPA estimates that 2,400 miles of streams will be completely buried by 2013. Meanwhile, the electricity consumed by data centers in the United States doubled from 2000 to 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and is estimated to double again by 2013.

It can hardly be concluded that digital devices are more energy efficient than paper. Digital devices require direct power or batteries, which must eventually be replaced. Once manufactured, paper requires no energy input. For some, the convenience of going paperless outweighs energy concerns. There's no need to file documents, sift through junk mail or remember to drop that bill in the postal box. But the paperless revolution leaves some inviduals in the dark. Electronic billing, for example, is inconvenient for those without reliable internet access.

With fewer letters being sent, the U.S. Postal Service has been forced to cut delivery and close branches. Snail mail may be old-fashioned but Nancy Pindus, a senior research associate for Metropolitan Housing and Communities, argues that postal services are still essential. They give the elderly, immigrants and low-income individuals equal access to goods and services. They aid in census completion and voter registration. Besides delivering mail, postal workers serve as a form of neighborhood watch and can reestablish contact with populations after natural disasters and biomedical emergencies. In remote areas, postal services are a lifeline.

Another, more controversial, downside to going paperless lies in our increasing exposure to electromagnetic radiation. The World Health Organization states that there is no clear link between poor health and using electronic devices, but other studies claim to have found a correlation between EMF exposure and tumors, low fertility rates and various forms of cancer. So even if we reduce our reliance on coal and lower our energy consumption, the jury remains hung on the effect that electromagnetic radiation has on our brains and bodies.

Online billing and e-books form a small part of our overall carbon footprints. In the big picture of energy efficiency, it's more worthwhile to focus on transportation methods or food production. Still, we can greatly simplify our lives and save trees by going paperless, if we also work to reduce the energy consumed by electronic media.