Several times a year a company in which I own shares sends me an envelope with a piece of paper and another envelope inside. The letter ask me if I want to switch to online shareholder statements. I don’t, purely because I keep a paper record of things and don’t want it getting lost in spam, but rather than ask me yes or no the company keeps sending the form and envelopes.

When I think about how much paper this process uses it seems like a funny little logic error, and I can’t help but think there would be similar examples of wastage in all businesses. What elements of packaging or paperwork are mere formalities or are instantly thrown away by customers? Get rid of them.

It’s not just a waste of paper, but of ink, storage, labour hours, landfill, handling etc. McDonald’s placemats are a prime example. I would be surprised if many stayed on the trays longer than a few minutes.

I’d encourage any marketer to think about the waste their business activities produce.

In the meantime, I’ll keep recycling those envelopes.