Editor's Notes: Paperless or Paper More?, TAPPI JOURNAL, February 2005, Vol. 4(2)

In my ongoing quest to remain informed about the world outside my office door,my computer’s homepage is set to a site that offers news headlines. A recent batch of blurbs—all offered together in the same day’s content—spoke directly to me about the pulp and paper industry. The section’s lead story was titled “Going paperless for safer banking”; the second read,“Communicating with ‘smart shirts”; a third suggested that I “Browse the best US bookstores.”

The juxtaposition of the first and third stories exemplifies an irony of our industry: while burgeoning Internet use does make “paperless” possible for certain functions (such as bill paying), it also facilitates the purchase of printed and packaged goods. Grade shifts away from sectors most impacted by electronic media (for instance, newsprint) are already occurring—but consumers continue to indulge their desire for something they can read on the beach.

So what do the second item’s “smart shirts” have to do with the paper industry? The story was about the application of nanotechnology to the surface of a substrate to impart new properties to meet consumer demand. In this story, that meant shirts that coffee cannot stain. Exciting, ongoing research in our industry is exploring what nanotechnology can offer when the substrate is paper.

I was struck by the way these randomly connected news stories explored our industry’s future—both the future predicted for us, and the future we are creating for ourselves. It’s going to be interesting to see how that future plays out.