In this podcast, I share an example of how I led an effort at my former company to transition our Lean Six Sigma training material from printed booklets to paperless. I go through the calculations to print each booklet, and calculate the environmental footprint. I also discuss situations when students value the booklets, and how to make more sustainable booklets.

* Number of sheets per booklet = 354 @ $0.01 per sheet = $3.54

* Dividers for each module = 31 @ $0.25 per divider = $7.75

* 3 ring binder cost = $4.00

* Total cost per booklet = ~$15.00

* 20 students per class x $15 = $300 per class for booklets

* 20 student booklets = carbon impact equal to 80% of one tree

This price does not include labor for reproduction services or our time to coordinate and hand out booklets, color ink costs, or printer maintenance and storage space costs.

Below is a report of the carbon emissions and impact from one booklet, along with a link to the interview I mentioned.

Links

Gemba Academy (GA) episode #237 – Interview about going paperless

EnvironmentalPaper.org Calculation Summary

EnvironmentalPaper.org Paper Calculation website