In this study, the paperless office is defined as an office where all paper documentation will be replaced by digital content except for documents that are final drafts or can be considered legally binding and we attempts to analyze the relative environmental impact of the use of paper and electronic devices. In addition, Kozak and Keolelan compared printed books versus electronic books (E-books), and revealed that E-books resulted in lower environmental impacts including global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, and acidification potential and required fewer inputs including material, water, and primary energy. This study found that PDA use resulted in fewer emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2), nitrous oxide (N 2O) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2). The environmental impacts can be stretched from resource, material, water, and energy use (inputs) to emissions of toxic pollutants and green-house gases (outputs). When performing an LCA, the objective is to evaluate the environmental impacts that occur throughout every stage of a product’s life, including design, resource extraction, manufacturing, use/operation, and end-of-life. LCA is the process through which environmental impacts of products, services, or processes are evaluated. In addition, when computer use increases the volume of paper use (as now seems to be the case due to the relative ease in printing), the impacts of this users’ pattern on the environment could follow a different trajectory.Īs a similar study, the environmental impact associated with substituting the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) for reading a newspaper was evaluated using life-cycle assessment (LCA). However, there may be also some doubt if the shift from a use of paper to a reliance on computers have a positive impact on the environment. Many people believed that electronics would eliminate society’s dependence on paper products. For instance, when computers and other electronic devices became popular in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the environmental consequences of their use were not well understood or studied. As such, it is impossible to determine if technological advancements represent the “optimum” outcome for society as a whole. In most cases, no assessment is made regarding the environmental and social impacts of either the new technology or the status quo. In some cases, these replace existing products, while other times they augment the use of an existing technology. Throughout the course of human history, technological advancements have introduced new products and services.
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