Mainstreaming of Environmental Concerns Cuts Across Political Spectrum with 75% of Americans Committed to Reducing Paper Consumption by 2020

Would you cut your toilet paper use for the environment?

A new study shows just how far Americans will go to be green.

Three out of every four Americans say they want to reduce paper consumption for the environment, including:

Nitro, the company behind the award-winning Nitro Pro and Nitro Reader, today announced the latest findings of its Digital Document Survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older, conducted by TNS. The survey revealed that more than 75% of Americans consider reducing their paper consumption for environmental reasons to be important, with 44% committing to halve their paper consumption during the next 5-10 years.

Respondents committed to making cuts in specific areas, with 60% saying they are willing to reduce their use of physical mail to lower their paper consumption in the next 5-10 years. While many indicated a willingness to reduce their use of commonly consumed materials such as printing paper (47.8%) and paper bags (44.5%), the survey suggests American consumers are committed to making specific cuts across a broad spectrum of paper consumption, such as:

48.0% – willing to reduce their use of newspapers

45.9% – willing to reduce their use of magazines

37.6% – willing to reduce their use of forms, contracts, documents

31.6% – willing to reduce their use of books

6.1% – willing to reduce their use of toilet paper

The survey also showed that 61% of Americans consider reducing paper consumption for environmental reasons important or very important. When asked to predict paper consumption in the next 5-10 years, respondents indicated:

· 43.7% – will use half the amount of paper they use now
· 26.0% – will use a quarter of the amount of paper they use now
· 23.7% – will use the same amount of paper they use now
· 6.5% – will use no paper at all

To encourage adoption of paperless best practices, Nitro is educating businesses about digital document usage and how its solutions can support efforts to reduce paper consumption in the workplace.

“Decades have passed since we first heard of the ‘paperless office’, but most people still rely heavily on physical paper,” said Sam Chandler, Nitro CEO. “Small and medium business has been slow to adopt digital workflows because the only tools on offer have been expensive to buy, difficult to use, and built for companies with thousands of employees. It’s taken the perfect storm of a global recession, ubiquitous Internet connectivity, and the rise of end-user focused product design to make it a conceivable reality, and we’re proud to play our part in that.”

The recently released Nitro Pro 7 enables businesses to implement paperless practices more easily by reducing or removing traditional barriers to entry such as cost, complexity, and user-adoption. Offering features such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Digital Signature Profiles, QuickSign™, and Document Management System (DMS) integration, Nitro Pro 7 increases end-user productivity and efficiency by providing intuitive electronic replacements for typically laborious, paper-based workflows.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online, within the United States by TNS via its Express Online omnibus product on behalf of Nitro. The survey took place from September 29-October 2, 2011, among 1,000 adults ages 18 and older, using individual methodology.

About Nitro
Australian-founded and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Nitro develops intuitive solutions that enable people to work smarter with digital documents.

From companies like Boeing® and IBM® to small and home businesses with just a few staff, millions of people worldwide use Nitro products — like the award-winning Nitro Pro and Nitro Reader — to create, edit, and share information using PDF.

Source: Nitro