Working at your PC

Sharing printed documents: copy or scan?

Objectives

Have fewer printed documents
Raise awareness that sharing it online still has some CO2 emissions
Multiply the effect of the publicity

Green Value indicator

CO2 savings/eco-footprint
Resource consumption + Material consumption
Printing fewer documents saves energy and resources and reduces waste
Energy expended by electronic sharing can be kept to a minimum by reducing redundancy and only sharing that which is fundamental

Explanation

Printing a document implies wasting a lot of energy and creating CO2 emissions. While printing may seem to contaminate more than scanning documents and sharing them online, is this really the case? Copying an existing material does not necessarily imply emitting too much CO2, as it can be copied or printed on recycled paper, using both sides instead of printing on one side.
According to Fuji Xerox, a printer emits 2,58g/h of CO2. While these numbers are used in printing a document, the carbon emitted per sheet should be also noted. For example, a ten-page document:

2,58 x (5g of paper x 5 sheets) = 64,5g CO2
2,58 x (5g of paper x 10 sheets) = 129g CO2

The emissions emitted per paper are doubled, as more paper must be used. Saving it online means emitting some CO2, as it must be in a server. Moreover, sharing it with other people means using the Internet, which also implies emitting CO2.
Showing a document through a projector in a laptop, according to Fuji Xerox, emits 163,85 g x 27,59 g per hour, which is 191,4g CO2 in an hour that the document is showed. Scanning a document might not always be a good idea as they can be torn or produce a poor image. Besides, their colours and shapes can be modified too if they are not well scanned.
AdobeScan is a good tool to scan documents that you may not need in paper anymore. Although scanning documents is generally a good practice, saving them in the cloud, your phone or computer, also emits CO2.

Before using this tool, you should ask yourself if keeping the document on paper benefits you in any way. If later it must be printed again, what is the point of having it only online, when you have to print it in paper?
Consider if this document is going to be printed later. Is it necessary to scan it? If you send it to other people, it is going to emit CO2.
If you want to add comments to the document, can you do it with a post-it or it must be through a comment in the document?

Adobe is currently dedicated to sustainability, ensuring that they use renewable energy sources, and are on their way to reaching zero-carbon emissions in their workplace, as well as using less energy to develop and run their programs.
Leaving aside all the work they are doing to be sustainable, their programs still produce some quantity of CO2. Of course, they are trying to reduce it and reutilise these emissions to not be harmful to the environment.

Another thing to keep in mind is the device (tablet or pc) that you use to store your documents. That’s because the extraction of materials such as coltan and other minerals necessary for the realisation of batteries and conductors of the devices often involve illegal trade, the exploitation of children and adults, the destruction of natural habitats and animal species. To prevent this, it is important to go one step further and seek production initiatives that support fairer trade, committed to ethical production. Fairphone, for example, is one of the first industries to advocate for a fairer electronics industry. As consumers, we can support practices that can help create an environment free of exploitation. The first step is, without a doubt, to inform yourself and choose not to be complicit supporting offending companies. We encourage you to look for ethical companies and choose them for your work tools.

PROS/CONS of the action

Pros:

The scanned document can be consulted anytime and any place
It can reach more people who have electronic devices
If someone receives that document electronically and they are not interested in it, they can just erase it, but if they receive it in paper, they might not recycle it

Cons:

If the document is online, the space it takes still indirectly emits CO2
It can be erased forever if a server is damaged
It does not reach everyone that might be interested if it is only sent and shared electronically
Also, devices used must be taken into account regarding their production and exploitation of natural and human resources

Certified

Not Certified

Link to useful sources

Comparison of CO2 Emissions from an Environmental Perspective ww.fujixerox.com