Wednesday, September 26, 2012

012: Just Say No

Just Say "No" to Receipts

According to the New Observer, there are 220,000 tons of paper produced for the main purpose of printing receipts in the United States each year. This adds up to 3.74 million trees! This seems crazy, but it is true.

We understand that for some purposes receipts may be the way you keep track of what you're spending, especially when swiping that card. We have news for you! The majority of banks now immediately debit your account when you swipe your card and place those funds in "pending" mode. Therefore, the need for a receipt after every single purchase seems unnecessary. We know that are our wallets end up with a ridiculous amount of wadded up little papers. We end up throwing away those receipts when they start taking up too much space.

Now you're thinking, "what if I need to return an item I purchased?" More good news! Many companies are now offering digital receipts sent directly to your email. Whole Foods Market, Nordstrom, Gap Inc., Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Patagonia, Sears and Kmart are just a few of the retailers that have gone digital.  We think this is an even better idea than those pesky paper ones, that you end up searching for while at the counter and you're telling the cashier, "I swear it's in here...somewhere."

We have noticed when we go to certain stores, the cashier asks, "would you like a copy of the receipt?" We say no thank you! Our suggestion for this week, next time you take some cash from the ATM or order that coffee, say no to a receipt.

In the mean time, what can you do with all those old receipts? Thedailygreen.com shares a 4 minute video on how to make paper out of your old receipts, junk mail, or any other paper you find. We will be sharing this video on our facebook page, so give us a "like" if you haven't already!

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