Waste Not, Want Not - records-management-related products - Product Announcement

Home Office Computing, May, 2000 by Cristina Gair

The paperless office is a myth--but the paper-efficient office is here

HOW MUCH PAPER DOES THE AVERAGE HOME OFFICE worker use each year? According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory research, about 10,000 sheets--and possibly more in an office where you're the boss, assistant, and support staff rolled into one. Obviously, it's time to stop dreaming of a paperless office, and start turning your paper shuffling into smart paper management. Here are some products that can help.

Store It Away

Every home office needs a filing system to keep documents within easy reach. An industrial-strength example is this black steel lateral file (36 by 1805 by 27.5 inches) from WorkSpaces. This cabinet features wood drawer trim and is available with an optional wood top (pearwood shown); inside, you cans select from front-to-back filing sets, a media bin that stores up to 24 CD-ROMs or 56 floppy disks, and a special drawer. The 110-pound file includes locks for security. lateral file $395, wood top $125; 800-466-4123, www.workspaces.com

Just Shred It

Professionalism is paramount in a home-based business--and that includes protecting your client's sensitive information. The CIA-12X crosscut shredder will reduce anybody's business plan or budget secrets to 3mm by 8mm pieces, with auto-stop, -start, and -reverse for convenient operation. It features a 12-page capacity with custom cabinet and wastebasket for easy cleanup, and even sounds an alarm when the basket is full. $250; Royal Consumer Business products, 908-429-4357, www.royal.com

Everything in Its Place

Kill the clutter and keep paperwork at your disposal with Haworth's Jump Stuff accessories. The complete Task Master Kit ($632) includes a gooseneck, kit a phone caddy, a catch-all tray, pile dividers, a three-layer tray, paper sorter, grip clips, sketch pad kit, file frame, computer disk caddy, and wire wraps. You can buy the tools separately for $25 to $75 apiece and mount them on a freestanding rail ($194 to $229, depending on desk length). If your paper's in it's place, you won't be forced to print it out twice. 800-344-2600, www. jumpstuff.com

Save a Tree

Reduce bulky reports into booklets of any size, jazz up your giveaway CD jewel cases, or design company greeting cards with ClickBook 2000. just print your documents from any Windows 95/98/2000 application, including any Web browser, using the supplied ClickBook drivers. The package comes with a variety of page layouts, and the company's Web site offers many more. $50; Blue Squirrel, 800-403-0925, www.clickbook.com

Print, Scan, Fax, Copy, and Network

A multifunction peripheral is the home office document manager's best friend. Hewlett-Packard's new OfficeJet G85 expands on the potent OfficeJet R series by adding USB connectivity and optional network capability and double-sided printing. The color ink-jet device pints up to 10ppm in color and 12ppm in black and white; features 600 by 3,600dpi color scanning; and includes a "scan to" button on the front panel to send images directly to networked PC. Copying and faxing will be easier to accomplish document feeder. Additional faxing features include a 125-page memory to receive pages when you're out of ink or paper. $799; 800-752-0900, www.hp.com/all-in-one

RELATED ARTICLE: Reuse, Reduce And Recycle

* Incorporate duplexing (printing on both sides of a sheet) when possible. This method helps save on postage as well as paper.

* Ask yourself, "Is this page really necessary?" Train yourself to work with some documents onscreen instead of on hard copy; you can also try incorporating fax covers sheets into your documents.

* Another paper-saving secret: image reduction. You can use software like Click-Book, the "Make It Fit" function of Corel WordPerfect, or try reducing image or type size to fit more data on one page.

* Made a mistake on a printout? Instead of throwing it in the recycling bin, reuse the other side for notes. This gives the paper a second life before recycling.

* Consider using thinner paper, which uses less paper fiber to make the same number of sheets. Right now, standard copy paper weight is 20 pounds.

* Most important, make paper recycling a standard home office practice. Start by contacting your local government to see what recycling options are available through the city sanitation department or third-party providers. To find out more about recycling, visit the following Web sites: The National Recycling Coalition (www.nrc-recycle.org), National Office Paper Recycling Project (www.usmayors.org/ uscm/recycle), Conservatree (www.conservatree.com), and The Recycled Paper Coalition (www.bankamerica.com/ community.env_p3.html).