Promoting Sustainable Paper Use in the Killam Library

Abstract

The project goal is to provide education on how to reduce, reuse, redirect and ultimately how to rethink paper use. This project explored paper use at Dalhousie University, with the goal of raising awareness to promote practices aimed at supporting sustainable paper use. Current practices are meeting the need for paper by compromising the needs of our environment as well as the needs of the future. Unsustainable paper use is reflected in the damage being imposed on Nova Scotia’s forests where the current annual rate of cutting is not sustainable. The Killam Library was the area of focus for the research conducted. Students, staff and faculty responded to questionnaire examining attitudes towards paper use within the Dalhousie community. Interviews were conducted to obtain information about paper purchasing, equipment (printers and photocopiers). Findings indicated that the majority of the Dalhousie community considers the current paper use practices wasteful and the major barriers to improving paper use are equipment, adversity to change and economical constraints. Our secondary goal to create a foundation upon which future students can continue investigating paper use at Dalhousie was completed successfully.