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It seems like every time you turn around these days, someone else is "going green". We're prompted to carry reusable bags and consider alternative energy for our homes. Some companies are even using alternative measures to keep their property trimmed without harming the environment.
For me, one initiative stands out as something that has been around for quite awhile – reducing paper waste. When I was a kid, I was taught to be conservative about paper use since paper production requires the cutting of trees. Maybe you have a similar memory from elementary school.
Lately, it seems as though reducing paper usage has become trendy – and is now highly advised by major companies with regard to billing. One industry that has been highlighted in the news recently is the cellphone/wireless industry.
Is T-Mobile Kicking Up Environmental Efforts or Alienating Customers?
This week, I was forwarded an article about United States cellphone service provider T-Mobile, a company that will begin charging users who prefer to receive hard-copies of their bills in the mail. The charges stand at $1.50 (USD) for regular bills and $3.50 for detailed billing. This change, which goes into effect on September 12th, has angered many of T-Mobile's customers.
Statements from T-Mobile have stressed easier accessibility for users to pay and view bills online, the rising costs of paper and stamps, and preserving the environment as the reasons behind the new fees. Many customers find this excuse to be unacceptable, however. The company's message boards are full of angry complaints like "If T-Mobile is doing this 'for the environment', I would suggest that they should have started by removing the two to four glossy ads and 'news' sheets that they include in each bill."
Other arguments discussed the fact that not all cellphone users have access to the Internet, which means that T-Mobile would be inadvertently punishing them. Additionally, many people cited using paper bills for tax purposes, correcting customer service representative errors, and tracking usage.
Not the First, Likely Not the Last
As an online bill payer, I go to my service provider's website to pay my phone bill. For awhile, I would be prompted to register for paperless billing. I made the switch eventually, but my decision was largely due to reminders from the company (in this case, Verizon). There was also the fact that I often paid my balance before the paper bill was even delivered!
At this time, Verizon and AT&T only charge $2 to users who request detailed billing statements. Verizon claims that it saves about $600,000 annually for every 100,000 customers who switch to paperless billing. After adopting this practice in 2008, the company saved 4.3 millions pounds of paper or approximately 52,000 trees that year.
In a world where the state of the environment is almost always front-page news, I'm not surprised to see companies pushing for paperless billing. But it's a tough sell to all customers. Reducing the cutting of trees will help the environment, but many people do not care about saving the world. They may also depend upon hard-copies of bills for tax or other personal purposes. Then there are those consumers who do have Internet access at all. All of these issues have been pointed to as being 'classist' or totalitarian.
What do you think?
- Do you believe T-Mobile is going paperless for the right reasons or is it a "dirty" move?
- Do you think that companies or organizations have the right for force people to go paperless by billing them?
- Should more people embrace going paperless? Why/how?
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