I do a fair amount of writing on paper. Notes. Phone numbers. Shopping list. Flow charts. Ideas. Cartoons.  Meaningful quotes. Letters. And so on. If I no longer need my scribbles, I put the sheet in recycling and move on to a fresh, blank page.  What’s interesting is that my meanderings are usually penned on used paper. Let me explain.

My printer often spits out more paper than needed.  Rather than toss out the nearly-blank pages, I save them.  Turn them over and clip them together.  And use these slightly-used sheets as my pad of paper.  I have been doing this for years. It started at work – creating my own legal pads from “used” paper. Paper that is blank on one side with printing or writing on the other.

I feel strongly about conservation.  And recycling.  My trademark JUST TURN IT OFF® says it all (see post of July 23, 2011).  Each one of us has the capacity to conserve water, energy and clean air (see May 21, 2012); stretch products like shampoo (see April 11, 2013); reuse “zarfs” (see October 29, 2015); reuse bags (see August 6, 2012).  There are major efforts on a grand scale to address climate change by restructuring energy and transportation systems. And yet — each one of us has potential to make a difference in the world.  Just think if every person saved one sheet of paper, one gallon of water, one kilowatt of energy – each day. . . .  

“It’s the little details that are vital.  Little things make big things happen.”   — John Wooden