Pointless Paperlessness

I may have written about this subject before, but I get forgetful in my old age, and frankly, I don't think anyone cares if I repeat myself. So here it goes.....

So many businesses are advocating "going paperless" these days, and I can't understand what all the hype is about. They want you to get e-mail statements instead of getting a bill or statement mailed to you. I understand that companies do this to save money on mailing, but what exactly is the benefit to me? According to the companies, the benefit is less paper clutter for me and I am helping the environment by using less paper. I don't buy that for a second. Let me tell you why.

Going paperless doesn't create less clutter for me because I would have to print out a copy of all my documents for my files. If anything, that is more wasteful because I have to buy incredibly expensive ink for my printer when a big company could print off millions of statements for a fraction of the cost. I guess I could file my documents electronically on the the computer, but that makes me very nervous for a couple of reasons. One, the computer could crash and I could loose all my information. Two, I am much better at organizing files when I have a physical copy. Things seem to get lost and forgotten in the cyber world. Finally, I don't like the idea of receiving personal information through e-mail. Most e-mail is not very secure, and if the information is not directly in the e-mail and I have to sign into a website to get my statement, that is, again, more work for me.

I also don't buy into the idea that going paperless is helping the environment. Even if I decided to get all my statements electronically, I would still go out to my mailbox and find huge wads of ads stuffed in there EVERY DAY. I don't ask for these ads, and they usually go straight into the recycling bin before I even look at them. It seems very inappropriate to say that my tiny amount of bills is hurting the environment when companies are sending out truckloads of ads that people don't even want.

I have been resisting the paperless craze for a while now, but I may give in someday when it becomes impossible to resist the forward flow of new technology. Call me old fashioned, but I am reluctant to rely on any sort of technology too much. So until companies absolutely refuse to send me a paper statement, I will take paper, and let them provide a small service to me for being a customer.