How to save paper? It’s not the kind of thing I usually write about on this blog but I have a paper-saving tip I would like to share.
I’m not a heavy user of paper. I went paper-free with bank statements and bills a long time ago. I do carry a small notebook in my bag but I rarely use it. It’s just for emergencies. When I need to make a to-do list or write a shopping list I use the back of old till receipts instead. I’ve been doing this for a long time. That’s the tactic I want to share.
The thing is, most shops print a till receipt whether you want it or not. If you don’t want it, the person behind the counter generally tosses it in the bin. It makes sense to take the receipt and use it.
To be honest, I never started saving receipts through a desire to save trees or spend less on buying paper. I just looked at the back of a till receipt one day and realised it was the perfects size for making a shopping list.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy for me to reuse paper in this way. The supermarkets in a few of the countries I’ve visited print advertisements and other useless information on the back of their receipts. However, in many countries, the supermarkets waste a lot of paper at their tills and don’t print anything on the back.
When you visit some supermarkets every time they print a receipt they print off several discount tokens or special offers.
I’m in France at the moment and the till receipts from my local Intermarche supermarket are ridiculously long. In fact, they are so long the receipt from one small shopping trip gives me enough paper to write several shopping lists.
Yesterday I bought 10 items and got a receipt that was 33 1/2 cm long. The important information would fit on a piece of paper half the size. I paid by card, so I got a separate receipt for that as well, along with a promotional coupon. I suppose if I only did one or two larger shops every week, instead of going to the supermarket every day, that would save a lot of paper too, but there are a many of reasons why I prefer to do a daily shop.
Anyway, using the back of old till receipts is how I save paper. That’s the tip I wanted to share. Apart from saving paper, it probably saves a little money as well. I rarely have to buy a new notebook. In most countries, the back of till receipts gives me all the paper I need. You may find it does the same for you as well.
– – – – –
– – –
– – –
– – – – –