Research That Makes Us Rethink Receipts

“I bought a donut, and they gave me a receipt for the donut. I don’t need a receipt for the donut. I give you the money, and you give me the donut, end of transaction. We don’t need to bring ink and paper into this. I can’t imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a donut.” – Mitch Hedberg

Our research team has done a wonderful job with providing our group with interesting facts and figures relating to the use of receipts. The following facts have helped our group begin to understand the great effects that the discontinuation of receipts could potentially have on our environment:

• 1 Ton of Paper = 17 trees

• 220,000 tons of receipt paper are produced each year in the U.S. alone. That’s 3,740,000 trees cut down only for RECIEPTS!

• According to AllEtronic, “600,000 tons of thermal receipt paper are used by stores each year. It takes 15 trees, 19,000 gallons of water and 390 gallons of oil to make 1 ton of paper.” So, it’s not just trees that are being used.

• If we pressed “no” when the ATM asked us if we want a receipt, we’d save enough paper to circle the equator 15 times. – Thomas Kostigen, co-author of The Green Book.