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I handed out little paper snippets to students from different departments at CCA (of course used paper which i saved during the semester – printed on one side but empty on the other side) and asked for their ideas how we could reduce the use of paper at CCA. I got really great feadback and talked to many different people about their ideas and suggestions. They came up with really good and practicable ideas such as:
* all printers and copy machines must print double-sided
* print readings and theory on both sides of the paper 
* limit handouts for class assignments – post online
* post work for crits online
* have critiques and paper presentations not exceed 8″x 11″ size (not the mandatory 11″ x 17″)
* give students the option to use digital media and present for critique on their computer
* turn in assignments via pdf!
* use fewer post its!
* raise printing costs (but please we hope they don’t)
* good working printers (that we don’t have to throw away so many misprints)
* orient images correctly when plotting – CCA could offer quick tutorial
* don’t test print too much
* recycle used paper (print on one side) to make sketch books, scratch etc
* digital presentations (project) – no need to waste paper, especially since we do so much on the computer and onlien anyway. Saves paper, energy, time and money!
* use recycled toilet paper
* toilet paper dispensers that regulate how much you pull out

* recycle the paper I wasted during the semester by making new paper and paper objects

* try to get as many student signatures as possible at the CCA SF Campus to change paper in printers and photocopy machines to recycled paper

* create a strategy and suggestion for CCA how paper use can be reduced in general!

Defne sent me this link to an amazing website which is helping people to green print and safe paper! check it out:

http://greatgreengadgets.com/gadgets/2007/07/24/greenprint-one-way-to-save-paper/

Our second half of the semester started last week which meand that we got a new form teacher by changing from Geoff Kaplan to Martin Venezky. It’s super exiting everthing is new and different. We explore objects, study there form. The only thing which hasn’t changed is the way of how we present our work. It is still by putting tons of prints up on the wall. I already print 2 pictures on on sheet of paper every time, try to get not to big to safe paper and do somthing for our environment by doing so.

In design research we use tons of post-its’ and for all teh other classes we have pages and pages of readings

Most of the teachers are disappointed when you don’t go big with your drafts. But in matters of energy and looking at all the environmental issues it doesn’t make any sense to get bigger. The best would be to come up with a concept how we can safe paper in class by presenting things in a different way – maybe by projecting things on the wall? It depends a lot on how much energy this uses (especially as we also have to think of the production of the cameras, computers and projectors which need to get produced to so so). There is so many things to think of!

The readings are a lot easier to deal with when you print them and then can actually make little side notes on the paper then just reading them online.

I passed the Banana Republic Store on Market street today and they had great decoration in the window which was made out of old paper.  They look like lamps hanging down from the ceiling. Unforntunately I only had my shitty little camnera with me and no pol-filter so they photo I took didn’t come out really well. I’m also not sure what to think about it. The decoration looks cool but  it doesn’t really make sense in any deeper conceptual way.But it was great inspiration for me to look at it and to start thinking about that there are so mayn other ways to reuse paper – not only recycling it and making new paper out of old one.
Why not make lamps for example, bowls to store things in or 3D christmas-stars to hang on the christmas tree…

My next step will be to really look close at the use of paper at CCA. I’ll mainly focuse on the grad program as that is where I am involved the most.

What paper is used (recycled, non-recycled) are there copy-machines which photocopy on both sides of the paper. Is it possible to bring your own paper and use that instead of the non-recycled paper which is normally used for the printers and copy machines…. This will keep me busy for the next 2 weeks – trying to get all the facts together figuring out which are concrete ways to make things better in an efficient way.

I want to try and activate CCA students, stuff and faculty members to subscribe a petition asking to only use recycled paper for photocopies and simple black and white prints. There is recycled paper available which totally complies with design standards. As CCA is always emphasizing its green attitude this is an easy way to get active and change something.

I will also do a little workshop on “how to make yoiur own paper” where I will recycle the paper I have wasted and collected throughout this semester. It is open for anyone who wants to participate and learn. We will make new paper out of our paper waste but also come up with ideas how else paper can be recycled/reused (making lamps, folding 3D stars for teh Christmas tree etc etc)

I will put a fact sheet together and ideas for teachers how they can make this topic accessible for their pupils. I also want to create a teaching strategy, which can be used to show pupils that recycling paper is fun – conceived for 2 or 3 school lessons.

I did it again – I wasted paper although I didn’t want to. Midterms are crazy and having form class with 100 and 100 of drafts and presentations is going so much in the extreme opposite direction of what my psp wants, it drives me crazy. Whenever I try to exlain that to my form teachers they just look at me as if I was a funny fury animal. I really try my best, read as much as possible online, only use 100% environmentally friendly paper for copy text and recycled graphic paper for layouts and prints… But it is a lot harder than I had thought. I mainly print at home – which is eating all my money as it uses so much ink but printing at school I would always have to carry my paper around and paper is heavy!

… that to produce one 1m2 of normal white 80g copy paper you need:
* 40-50 liters of water 
* the same amount of energy as if 8 tv sets would be turned on for 1 hour
* about 250g of wood 
* bleach (which – by the way – is toxic) 

to produce the same amount of environmentally friendly paper you need:

* 1/4 liter of water (which is just a little mug full of water)
* the same amount of energy as if 3 tv sets would be turned on for 1 hour
* used paper
* no bleach

But of course there are hundres of other ways how to reuse old paper. Paper art hast become really big and you can find more and more creative solutions for reusing paper in one or another way. Here somne links to great paper artists:

http://www.petercallesen.com/
http://www.jenstark.com/
http://www.helenmusselwhite.com/
http://www.richardsweeney.co.uk/
http://hinaaoyama.free.fr/francais.htm
http://picapicadesign.net

and many many more

Step 1: Rupture your used paper which you have collected fort his occasion in little pieces (as little as possible)

Step 2: Soak the paper parts in water (for at least one hour, better for a whole day)

Step 3: Mix the pap with your hands and prepare a plastic bowl in which you put a fly-screen to cover the bottom

Step 4: Cats the pap into the plastic bowl on top of the fly-screen

Step 5: Take the fly-screen with the pap on top out of the bowl (you will need a second person to help you with that) and wait till most of the water has drained off

Step 6: Put the fly-screen with the pap on one half of an old blanket, put a clean dishtowel on top and wrap the other half of the blanket around

Step 7: Then tramp around on the blanket to squeeze the water out

Step 8: Turn the whole package carefully around so that the fly-screen is on top and the dish towel below, when you open the blanket

Step 9: Remove the fly-screen and hang the dishtowel to which the pap is glued to and hang it somewhere, or lay it flat on a table to dry

Step 10: Wait for 24 hours or as long as the pap needs to dry

Step 11: When the pap is dry you can easily detach it from the dishtowel

This procedure works the best with newspaper but you can take any kind of paper (just have to make sure that it is really soaked in water before you continue using it. The result will not be printing paper. It will be a lot thicker – more like car.

The color of the paper depends a lot on which color the frazzles have you are using. But you can add color when you water the frazzles. By doing so, you can even produce paper which is green, red, blue etc.