There are certain things that people tend to think of when they envision court reporters: someone who is sitting up straight in a courtroom, the relentless tapping away at a keyboard that looks a bit different than what we’re used to, and piles and piles of paper. The court reporting industry is synonymous with the usage of paper, as that’s what we do – we keep an exact record of what happens in courtrooms or meeting rooms and we make a record of all of it. Unless you’ve worked at a court reporting firm, it may be difficult to fully understand just how much paper is involved with providing our service.
That’s why our decision at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC to go green is actually a very big step for us and for everyone who works with us. Our Georgia court reporters have all embraced this change with enthusiasm, and we hope that our clients continue to do so as well. In furtherance of this effort, we’d like to put some very basic numbers out there so everyone can perhaps gain some perspective on the difference that just one court reporting firm can make by moving as far away from using sheets of paper as possible.
Estimates Regarding Paper Usage
Most current estimates indicate that the average office worker in the United States uses approximately 10,000 pieces of paper every year. Considering that the average worker spends approximately 250 days per year at work, that’s 40 pages per day, which is an astounding number. 10,000 pieces of paper is roughly equivalent to one entire tree. Not to mention, that’s a very low number when one considers what court reporters do all day. Industry estimates state that it’s not uncommon for a court reporting firm to use several million pieces of paper every year.
Estimates Regarding Paper Avoidance
In addition to the massive estimates regarding paper usage in the United States, other estimates indicate that a dedicated effort towards eliminating this waste can cut paper consumption by upwards of 80 percent in a single office. That not only cuts way down on waste, but it cuts down substantially on the costs associated with this resource. Many court reporting firm owners have looked at their paper costs with horror at the end of the year. Some court reporting firms are changing all of that.
How We’re Adapting
The Georgia court reporters at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC have moved away from paper quickly. We now provide all of our transcripts and our invoices in electronic form. We don’t require all of our clients to handle things this way yet, but we’re hoping that before long everyone we work with sees things the same way that we do. Not to mention, and as is always the case, we are passing the cost savings we’re realizing directly on to our clients.
If you’d like to move towards the elimination of paper waste, contact us to find out how you can make use of our services without having to pay for paper, printing, storage and every other wasteful expense associated with the printed page.
