What is that right in the middle of the Word Cloud in Carrie’s email? Does it say “less paper?” Do we really want to use less paper right here at Carondelet? After I read Carrie’s email and completed the feedback survey, I decided to visit the little room in the copy room. There on the floor of the copy room were 30 boxes holding 150,000 sheets of paper. And this is only a small portion of the paper used at Carondelet. We are not using less paper. We are using more.

Aside from the sacrificed trees and the released carbon, it took about a half million gallons of water to make those 30 boxes of paper. This water is filled with bleaching chemicals and acids from the trees. That half million gallons of water has become toxic waste just so we can have nice bright white paper that will be used once and discarded. Is our number one priority really using less paper? How can this be? We are using more, not less.

Everything that can be printed can be turned into a pdf file. Students can upload articles, images, and math problem, or we can put them in Schoology. Students can take handwritten notes and solve math problems using Notability or similar programs. Check out these annotations and reflections by one of the American Studies students. If you are into multiple choice tests, Schoology has a great quiz module. If we really want to use it, we have all the technology in place to go almost totally paper free. Think of the trees, the money, and the water we will save. Think about how good we will feel. Think about how good our students will feel knowing how ecologically minded we are here at Carondelet.

Let me know if you want to go paperless, or Joan, or whoever you know who has gone paperless. Others must have paperless classrooms. If you do, share your story. It would be so cool if we could cut our paper use in half next year. How’s that for a great goal?