While there are many fax-to-email services that don’t require the usage of paper, numerous businesses within first world countries still rely heavily upon fax machines. By taking a look at specific data related to fax machine usage, it becomes apparent that using a fax machine has many environmental drawbacks.
Fax Machines are not Eco-Friendly
It is estimated that 12,500 pieces of blank paper can be produced from one single tree (techsoup.org). Even though this amount seems rather large, it pales in comparison to the 210 billion pieces of paper that are used to send faxes within the United States each year – not to mention other first world countries!
Other interesting eco-statistics include:
• 95% of office paper used within the United States will not be recycled.
• It takes 4 trees on an annual basis to meet the needs of fax machines within one large U.S. based company .
• More than 17 million trees are annually cut down in order to produce enough paper for the United States alone.
Even though the United States is a large offender of environmental damage caused by fax machine usage, it is not the worst first world offender.
Number of Fax Machines per Country
Presently, there are 16 countries that can be considered first world countries. The majority of these countries still use fax machine technology on a regular basis. According to a recent poll conducted by NationMaster.com, Japan, the United States, and Germany have the most fax machines per 1,000 people.
Below, you’ll find the number of fax machines in each country per 1,000 people:
• Japan: 93.31
• United States: 55.28
• Germany: 45.55
• Sweden: 41.63
• Denmark: 39.23
• Norway: 36.04
• France: 32.44
When these statistics are carefully considered, the amount of environmental waste caused by fax machines in first world countries is astronomical – especially when you consider that Japan alone has approximately 128 million people!
What Can Be Done
It may take awhile for most companies and individuals within first world countries to reduce fax machine usage. Still, there is one viable alternative to a traditional fax machine: fax-to-email services. These services allow companies to email documents that would otherwise be faxed.
In addition, a fax-to-email service also allows a receiving company to print and file each document (on recycled paper!). Even though this step may seem like a small one, the amount of environmental waste can be greatly reduced by switching from a standard fax machine to a fax-to-email option.