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A journey to the paperless society: Are we there yet?

Program Assistant Donna Kuklinski has seen changes in paper consumption during her career at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. (Photo by John Kaiser)

Donna Kuklinski sits at her desk.  Her smiling face welcomes students into the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire history department every day.  Kuklinski, program assistant to the department, has been working for 20 years at UW—Eau Claire.  Much has changed over her tenure, but she is happy.  Gone are the days when typewriters were used to fill in forms and write out letters.  They have all been replaced by computers.  Instead of paper copies, Kuklinski has the choice to print what she needs.  Increasing technology usage in today’s business world has increased the speed of communication, but also decreased the amount of paper used to communicate with one another.

Newspapers, job applications, bank statements and mail are all on the Web.  Paper has certainly become less necessary because of these innovations.  But that has not meant that less paper is being used now, instead of four years ago.

Officials at UWEC say that their overall output of paper document was cut by as much as 20 percent over the last four years.  The Eau Claire Area School District passed a referendum in the spring of 1999, which enabled the schools to put-in 1,000 new computers.  The increased technology, however, has led to more paper being used in the district. 

The difference between the ECASD and UWEC seems to be the level of integration into daily lives of students.  While traditional classroom lessons and worksheets still exist in Eau Claire’s public schools, the university has been able to convert those materials to electronic form.  UWEC students can now get materials for class on a need be basis.  Articles, worksheets, research papers and class notes can now all be stored, sent and read on computers. 

A Daily Part of Life

At UWEC, the integration of technology has had a large impact on the amount of paper the campus is using and purchasing.  Students now receive degree audits, class notes and articles through the computer rather than hard copies handed out in class or sent by mail.  Many steps toward e-communication allowed the university to cut a large amount of paper from its budget. 

In 2000, the university ordered 36,120 reams of white paper through UWEC central stores, which buys in bulk and then sells supplies to the different departments on campus.  Central stores bought 30,660 reams of paper in 2004.  At a price of $2 a ream, the University has trimmed $10,000 annually in paper purchases compared to four years ago.  The difference in paper use isn’t only seen in the amount of purchasing, but also in the types of tasks that have moved on-line.

Some services are expected to be completely online soon, if not already.  Craig Mey, UWEC interim director of computing and networking systems, said he expects many paper documents to be completely eliminated.  He holds up a copy of the UWEC campus directory as an example.

Marian Ritland is the manager of UWEC development and operations staff.  Her department is in charge of on-line systems like Blugold online, the program used by students to register for classes and check their academic standing.  Since the 2000 fiscal year, the university has cut 60 percent of the pages it used to print.  According to records, the pages printed in the mainframe computers have been cut from 983,154 pages since 2000. 

She uses freshmen mid-term reports as an example of how the university now puts information directly into students’ hands.   Instructors now give status reports through E-mail.  Students have an average of five classes when they are freshmen.

“That doesn’t only eliminate a sheet of paper for every freshmen we have, but five sheets of paper,” said Ritland.

Printing costs have been drastically cut.  Ritland said they were able to get rid of two $75,000 machines and replace them with smaller $5,000 printers. 

The integration of technology seems to have had quite an effect on the amount of money UWEC puts toward producing paper documents.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that less paper is being used.  Students provide their own paper at the university.

“It’s not so much reduction as it is pushing it out to the end-user, Ritland said.  “It’s up to the person who gets it.”

A paperless society seems to be available to those who want to use it, but some have yet to take full advantage of the new system. 

“We use more paper now, but it’s (her job) easier,”  Kuklinski said.  She thinks the ease of printing off information has increased the amount of paper in her office. 

She remembers the way books and documents were updated and kept 20 years ago.  The speed of editing has created less manual updating in existing books and more copies of updated books.  Kuklinski said that she is not copying or producing as much paper as she use to because others have taken on that role.  Professors have taken a larger role in providing materials for classes.  Students now have the choice of what information they need before they go to class or work on an assignment.

“Students benefit from more information being given to them, but some professors work a lot harder now to produce the materials themselves,”  Kuklinski said.

Technology as a Tool for the Future

The Eau Claire Area School District has also seen a difference in the way they consume paper.  The district is actually using more paper than four years ago.  Technology has been integrated heavily into the schools as well, but a few differences underline why this has lead to higher paper consumption.

Budget cuts have the ECASD looking for ways to cut spending.  Paper isn’t the best way to do it.  Different teaching methods and less book purchasing has led to more duplications.

“Instead of workbooks, they make copies to save on textbook purchases,”  said Charlie Kramer, ECASD director of buildings and grounds.

This has led to more paper in the classroom than there use to be.  Some steps have been taken to eliminate paper within the district, although the results haven’t been nearly as successful as UWEC.  Grade reports and assignment information can be found on teacher-initiated Web Sites.  That trend has not been widely used within the district, but some teachers have used newer software programs to allow the students to learn about technology as well as class material. 

“It all depends on the teacher,”  said Don Johnson, director of technology services for the district. 

The main focus of the technological integration in Eau Claire’s public schools is to prepare students for an evolving world.

“Students are at a real disadvantage if they leave high school without any experience in technology,” Johnson said.

Putting paper in the right place

 The ECASD puts out three tons of garbage per day, not counting recyclables.  That rate has stayed the same for the last few years.  Kramer said that school garbage is a static business.  The district uses its own garbage truck to collect non-recyclable materials.  The schools outsource the recycling to an outside bidder.  This makes it hard for the district to measure the exact amount of paper, cardboard and commingled recycling materials they generate

 Waste Management has the current contract with the schools, and does not total the weight of material for every pick-up.  Carrie Hallquist, district safety coordinator and head of recycling, says the district looks for ways to fill the bins in between pick-ups.  According to Waste Management’s bid agreement based on the 2003-04 school year, the district is saving $1,500 by using larger bins and less frequent pickups.  Smaller rolling totes have been replaced with 2-yard dumpsters in many schools.  ECASD officials can’t tell what effect that has on the actual amount of recycling that takes place.

UWEC has also concentrated on streamlining its recycling program to be cost effective.  In the past four years, recycling has become more efficient at the university.  Campus workers used to collect garbage from around campus and then take it to one location.  This process was very labor intensive and wages alone made it very costly.  Now the campus has 66, 95-gallon totes, one eight-yard dumpster, one six-yard dumpster and a 40-yard compactor.  The compactor alone averages 4.12 tons per dump.  According to 2002 UWEC waste statistics, more than 90 tons of recyclables produced only by Davies Center, the UWEC commons area, every year.  It is hard to say whether that number is higher or lower now because statistics aren’t updated unless the contract comes up for bidding.

Both the ECASD and UWEC officials say they believe there is progress being made towards more recycling.  Kramer was quick to point out that some student led initiatives create noticeable differences in the garbage rates tallied by the district. 

“North had a big push by their ecology club and we saw some results there, Kramer said.  Students are the ones who can make the difference, if there is a sustained effort.”

Current efforts at Memorial High School are concentrated on commingled recycling, which Natalie Eiermen, president of the MHS ECO Club, says is a large problem.  Vending machine and cafeteria drinks fill the building each day.  The ECO Club is trying to make it easier for students to find a recycling bin.

“We are trying to put a can in every classroom, she said.

Efforts like these are crucial steps in reducing the amount of wasted recyclables that are thrown out with the trash.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has a Green and Healthy Schools program that suggests simple ways to make schools more environmentally friendly. 

Christal Winter of the WDNR says many simple strategies implemented by schools are a way to reduce a paper budget.  Using both sides of a page is the simplest of ways to reduce consumption.  This practice is encouraged in the ECASD, but other measures are not.

 Winter said reaching out to the community is another way to trim excess.  Asking businesses for paper with out of date letterheads and creating a scrap bin in high traffic areas allows for students to use perfectly good paper that would normally be wasted.  Winter said through an e-mail that some schools that have participated in the Green and Healthy Schools program have been able to reduce paper budgets in half.

University officials said it takes time for people get used to new technologies. 

 “It takes a little bit of time and I think you have to have some people who lead by example, then it (paper reduction) catches on,” Mey said.

Kuklinski illustrates her point by spreading her hands apart. 

“This is where we were, she said shaking her right hand.  And this will be where we will be,” as she shakes her left. 

“Right now we are somewhere in here, pointing to the middle.  The more we get use to it, the more efficient we’ll be.”