A couple of cycles

Most people I know tend to be pretty conscientious about recycling, so they'll appreciate my giddiness when this happened: I was pretty much jumping for joy when my apartment building finally had recycling bins, and again when my office building started to do that as well.

Not long ago, I decided to make used paper useful for another round before it heads to the recycling bin. One thing I use a lot of is notepads. I write all the time, be it notes of a hearing, or my wild and crazy ideas for motions (or opposing them), and a record of my time spent doing various things. Yup, in my line of work, time is worth a lot of money. Unfortunately, office supplies also cost a lot of money. I read a newspaper article a few weeks ago that the recent across-the-board price hikes have engulfed office supplies. The price of paper clips have apparently jumped 50% compared to a year ago. I can imagine how painful this must be for small businesses that require the use of lots of office supplies.

I learned a pretty neat and how-did-I-not-think-of-that simple trick from my former secretary. She used to cut used paper in half and staple it for her own notepads. That's such a great idea--much paper can be saved, and fresh notepads can be conserved for times when those premarked lines are actually needed. This idea isn't quite as innovative (or pretty) as this, but a little savings here and there will matter a lot.