Yesterday’s office clean out day was a huge success; the several 100 binders we received in the sustainability office can attest to that fact. It’s exciting to me to see how many office supplies were diverted from the landfill this year, and we are so happy that people are taking them here.
The office is brimming with objects – some of which keep pieces of paper apart, and many of which hold pieces of paper together: clips, staples, file folders, presentation covers, binders, and a number of items that I have no name for because of their extraordinarily specific purpose. I think maybe I’m too young to wax nostalgic on the comings and goings of technologies, but sorting through the typewriters and the binders and the endless file folders made me feel just a little old. If you go into campus storage there are a huge number of filing cabinets: people seem to be slowly getting rid of them. I feel like I’m on the front lines witnessing the end of paper. The transition is obviously not happening over night (the number of pages printed by students seems only to be increasing), but the norm is shifting subtly.
Although I do not have a comprehensive list of everything in our inventory, we have many things eager for a new home. This includes but is not limited to: adhesive Velcro, racks for holding paper horizontally, racks for holding paper vertically, racks for displaying paper, racks that separate piles of paper, folders that hold paper, paperclips, labels and hole punches. We hope all Carls – students, staff and faculty – will take a moment to consider before buying new things that deify paper, because soon they may be obsolete. At any rate, we can safely say that no new binders need to be bought at Carleton this year, and certainly no hanging files! They’re here, they’re free, we would love you to take them and give them a new home and a new job to do. Thanks!
-Just a note… the office supply swap is internal to Carleton. For tax purposes, only Carleton employees can partake.