Going paperless

To make WLHS students and adults aware of the amount of paper they use, one day a month is set aside as paperless

By Cindy Garrison

The West Linn Tidings, Mar 22, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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“I’m a big environment person. Kids aren’t aware of it as much as they should be. They care, and once they know about it, they can see how important it is.”

She recommended that people be informed on conservation at an early age.

Wind Lothamer, technology and alternative education teacher, puts his assignments in students’ computer folders. He makes PDFs of documents and uses a computer file folder to store them.

He believes in conservation.

“I was doing it with some stuff all along,” he said. “(In the beginning) I was handing out sheets that some students didn’t keep.

Students weren’t really using them.”

Then, he realized there was another alternative — the computer. By filing his assignments on his Web site, he gives students the ability to access their work from a computer anywhere there’s Internet access.

Angie Hammond encouraged that kind of teaching. She said that technology and the subsequent conservation of paper promotes real-time learning.

“The paperless system increases learning, which increases comprehension and the opportunity to capitalize on the moment,” she said. “Technology increases the learning experience.”

Organizers were expecting resistance to No Print Day, but they found most people participated wholeheartedly.

“The next day there was a visual sign of a reduction in paper use,” said Hammond. “People are trying to think of different ways to save paper. They’re more conscious of it now.”

Other students also realized the importance of continuing to conserve paper.

“If they really want to make a difference,” said student Michael Dearborn, “they would find a way to waste less paper long-term, instead of just one day.”

That’s exactly what the groups plan to do. However, it will take some time for people to get used to the idea.

Until then, West Linn High School will be holding a No Print Day once a month on the second Wednesday of the month. The next scheduled No Print Day is April 10.

Cindy Garrison is employed by the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, and occasionally writes an article for the Tidings.

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