As someone who does a lot with zero waste and sustainability living, you obviously want to do this as well as possible in all areas. You want as little plastic packaging around your purchases as possible and you also want the products you buy to be sustainably produced. Greenbook is one such product which is all of these things, it helps against paper waste and it's a really handy product!
Paper waste
You would think that in the age of electronic devices that paper consumption must have dropped dramatically in recent years. But nothing could be further from the truth unfortunately. On the contrary, paper consumption is increasing by about 2% annually. The reason this consumption is increasing is because we prefer to read from a paper rather than a screen and there are few alternatives to paper. In Europe, we consume about 160 kilograms of paper per person per year. And for those who don't realize how much that is, let me do the math: an A4 paper weighs about 5 grams, so that means we use 32,000 A4s per year, imagine that number in your living room and then we'll talk again. This paper comes from various sources, think of receipts, leaflets, printouts at work or school, books, newspapers and notebooks.
What can you do about paper waste?
Although there are few alternatives to paper, there are some simple actions you can take to reduce your paper consumption. For example, you can put a no-no sticker on your mailbox against unwanted flyers, decline receipts, or read the newspaper or a magazine via blendle. An e-reader can also help against paper waste.
Erasable notebook
All simple actions I've been doing lately. The only thing I did struggle with is getting rid of notebooks. By default, I am busy with to-do lists, goals, shopping lists, weekly menus, drawings and more. But on my phone, I honestly don't find that very useful. Fortunately, there is a zero waste solution to this and that is Greenbook.
Saving more than just paper
With your GreenBookyou not only save paper, the product is also sustainably produced. The notebook is reusable, water-saving and fair trade just like the pens that are refillable.
Meal planning
What I mainly use my GreenBook for is creating a weekly menu. Every week I plan a menu with the help of cookbooks and blogs. By using theerasable nutrition planner I divide my meals conveniently over the days and on a notes page I make the shopping list. Making a weekly menu not only provides more peace of mind during the week, it also saves a lot of food waste because you only buy what you need. So not only do you save paper, you save food!
About Merel
In daily life, Merel works as an Associate Scientist at the lab. Merel's big passions are travel sustainability, animal welfare and all things vegan. You can read all about these topics on her green blog Blackbirds and Cakes.
