[The following article appears in the September 1995 edition of
_Public_Sector_Quality_Report_, page 4.]

                          EPA PURSUES
                       PAPER-LESS OFFICE

     The "paper-less office"--like the 32-hour work week--is one
of those futuristic ideals that forever seems to be just around
the corner, but never quite seems to come within reach.

     While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesn't claim
to have achieved a paper-less work environment yet, progress
toward that vision is underway, at least according to a recent
report in the EPA publication Reusable News. 

     Thanks to an agency-wide program known as the Paper-Less
Office Campaign, EPA workers used nearly 25 million fewer sheets
of paper in 1994 than they consumed the year before. That number
translates into a staggering 130 tons of paper, or approximately
$100,000 in annual savings.

     How did EPA reduce its paper glut?

     Through careful analysis of work practices and program
activities, along with a greater reliance on electronic
communication. "Paper-wise" strategies adopted by the agency
included a push to encourage copying on both sides of photocopy
paper, increased routing and posting of memos (rather than mass
duplication and distribution), purging mailing lists of
out-of-date addresses, and greater reliance on electronic
document transmission and storage.

     Among the specific strategies, two EPA regions set their
copy machines to automatically copy on both sides of a sheet In a
six-state Midwestern region, all employee memos were distributed
electronically.

     This year, EPA also is pressing ahead with its paper
reduction effort by encouraging and training employees to
communicate via E-mail.

     According to Reusable News, at least two other U.S. federal
agencies have expressed interest in borrowing EPA's ideas and
strategies.

     If your organization is interested in streamlining paper
flow and reducing paper-related purchasing and processing costs,
you might drop a note to the EPA contact below to begin a
benchmarking process and identify some best practices that might
be transferable.

     On second thought, hold off on that note. Why not pick up
the phone?

CONTACT: Mia Zmud, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Paper-Less Office Campaign, (703) 308-7263.

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