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A true paperless society is probably never going to happen. The reason is that the only high tech device needed to recall what has been written on paper is a pair of working human eyes. Within the last few decades, society has witnessed the virtual death of various forms of electronic media. Vinyl records, eight-track tapes, cassette tapes, 5 1/4 inch and 3 1/2 inch floppy disks, and reel-to-reel tapes are just of few of the more prominent ones.

Without the technology available to read the data on these storage devices, everyday people can be left without access to their information. The magnetic media can fail or heads can crash. Either of these can effectively cause the loss of huge amounts of data. While ink and paper have their own list of short comings, most people feel better with access to this form of storage media as a reliable back up over the long term. Having said this, there are huge advantages to becoming much more paperless than the majority of people are today.

Even with paper recycling efforts running at maximum, thousands of trees find their way into the pulp mills of the world everyday. While conservationists would argue that the wise harvesting of trees is good for the environment and the forests, most pulp mills do not harvest trees. They encourage clear cutting of the forests that leaves no tree with bark safe from chain saws. The manufacture of paper does not require mature trees ready for harvesting. It only requires wood of any shape and size.

Something has to happen to all of that paper with important information recorded on it. Most of it goes into file cabinets and storage boxes to be held for indefinite amounts of time. Often, this storage can result in huge amounts of paper be held for decades or longer. The space needed to hold all of this paper can fill up thousands of square feet of storage space. Any shift toward less paper means that the cost of storage over the long term can drop dramatically. Often, local households can store a dozen or more boxes of old paper documents. This is easily enough to make a family need to give up a few closets or large sections of basement or garage flooring space to store the paper.

Trying to find an old written document that has been stored for 20 years can require hours of searching through page after page of paper stored in box after box. Most of the time if the same information is stored electronically, it can be found within an hour or possibly minutes. By being careful to back up important information, you can be certain that what you need will be available quickly and in a readable condition at any time.

Barring the possibility of hackers, electronic data is more secure from curious eyes than ink and paper. By using firewalls and passwords, it is not that difficult to maintain your privacy from all but the most determined and skilled seekers. You do not have to worry about accidental revelations unless you forget to sign off or leave something important showing on a screen when you leave the computer.

Not only do your pictures and documents arrive in seconds after they are sent, you do not need to waste the time going to the Post Office to mail them. Instead of requiring the effort to go and have copies made and finding the right envelopes, you just click attach and add your file. Within a minute or two of deciding to send the materials, it is in the pipeline.

This may not be good for everyone who really like to be able to tell creditors that “the check is in the mail.” Paying a bill electronically guarantees almost 100% that your payment will never be late again unless you want it to be. You do not have to pay for paper checks or pay late fees. It is a win-win.

Debit and credit transactions are almost always a lot faster than having to write a check. With many stores now having you sign a receipt and giving you a cancelled check back, you do not have that piece of paper to haul around and later to store.

It takes a lot less time to respond to an electronic message than a paper one. Because of this, most people will reply to electronic messages much more frequently. This means that questions are answered and dialogue progresses better through this type of communication.