Use business analytics software: Integrate software that automates manual reporting and analysis (e.g. Retech Operational Intelligence), and electronically distributes reports over the Web or on mobile devices. One mid-size company estimates that it saved enough paper to cover 5,519 football fields on a yearly basis simply by moving manual-based financial and operational reporting processes to a business intelligence system.

Re-align business processes: Automate and streamline business processes among people and systems, reducing paper consumption by eliminating unnecessary papers trails and content storage costs.

• Move business tasks to an electronic format: Encourage non-technical employees to try electronic forms and survey software that does not require an IT department's resources. Traditionally, compiling forms and surveys required several technical workers weeks, not minutes, at a significant cost in an IT department's time and salaries. For example, electronic forms are currently used by more than 1.4 million Army personnel worldwide, yielding a projected $1.3 billion in cost savings to the U.S. federal government.

Use mobile devices. Today more than ever, as mobile software applications have grown in popularity, employees can complete most all of their business tasks by using their mobile devices. They can review, read and work on documents and other business tasks while on the go, reducing the amount of forms they might have printed in the past.