Sequim Gazette Editorial and Letters to the Editor

You don't hear the term "paperless society" much anymore. Years back, when the phrase was coined to describe the replacement of paper by computers, the concept bounced around technical circles, boardrooms and long lunches like a crazed grasshopper. The proposal was a significant business application at a time when computers were utilized predominantly for scientific and mathematical applications.

That business application became a possibility with the introduction of the silicone chip. Machine capacities, speeds and ability to manipulate data increased exponentially. Collaring high level "suits," computer technicians, accountants, business strategists and many others pushed for large capital investment in the revolutionary technology. The data information world never again would be called "data processing." In order to describe the product rather than the function, the effort became "information systems."

As fast as a speeding bullet, computers leaped over naysayer obstructions. In a seemingly endless progression, today these magic machines now solve complex problems, operate everything from coffee pots to space vehicles and dramatically enhance human communications. Although they have helped us in countless ways, did we get the paperless society that was sought? Well, I did a little nosing around for this article.

Yesterday, I got a 14-inch paper sales receipt at the Sequim QFC. Today I printed five drafts of a 20-page short story, 100 pieces of paper. Although I have fastidiously thrown away paper that I no longer needed, the files I have for the sale of my house contain 197 sheets of paper. I counted the number of manila folders I have developed in only the past three years, 134, and those are only the files. Lord knows how many pieces of paper they hold.

I am convinced it is the seemingly unstoppable programming of the machines that were supposed to replace paper that facilitated the new flood. As an example, I suspect you get as much targeted throw-away mail as I do. If it weren't for computers, personal contact by those mailers would require many thousands of people, costing more than it was worth. The result: paper mail. Lotteries for millions of people would not be possible without the magic machines. The result: paper lottery tickets. More and more reports, graphs, analyses, even art: once again, more paper.

There isn't enough room in the Gazette to describe all the computer applications that have demanded new paper. However, you may well ask, "Regardless of all this stuff from you, Louis, if more paper is being used, how come paper mills are closing?"

Yes, as we in Sequim know, in recent years paper mills have been closed, not opened. In 2001, the Department of Labor reported the nationwide loss of some 64,000 paper industry jobs since 1995. But in the same year, a spokesperson for the union representing American paper workers said, "Even though Americans use about 50 percent more paper today than they did in 1980, there's still an oversupply." Labor analysts of the time explained that foreign competition, productivity advances and high energy costs had necessitated the American closings.

How about today? In February of this year, a digital librarian reported that the acceleration of paper use is reversing. Stating that in 2005 each person in the United States only used 502 pounds of paper (in regular sheets, 200 a day for 300,000,000 people), the librarian claimed, "Paper has been dealt a complete death blow." As an example he asked, "When was the last time you saw a telephone book?" Well, librarian, the answer from me is, "This morning," and I have three of them. The "paperless society" crazed grasshoppers are back.

Louis Howard lives in Agnew. He has written columns for The Reporter in the Sacramento Valley and the Sequim Gazette.