No one is immune from the affects of climate change. Every industry is going to feel the impact of the changing environment, and in one everyone is contributing to the changes.
Let's look at the use of paper as an example:
On average each person uses 10,000 sheets of paper- that's 20 reams of paper or 1 and 1/5 of a tree per year. (conservatree.org) That doesn't seem to be that much, but for an office of ten, that's 12 trees a year. An office of 50 uses 60 trees. A large business company of 500? That's 600 trees a year. We don't have to keep doing the math to figure out that it starts adding up after awhile.
It's easy to say cut down the amount of paper you use, but how exactly do you do that? Finding the right marketing management software, mapping software, memory software, Microsoft accounting software, leaning manufacturing software (you get the picture) can cut down on paper consumption and make your business run faster. Not only that, but the right software can streamline your operations and improve efficiency by elimination paper forms. Financial management software allows you to submit and review forms electronically, getting rid of the hassle of having to dig through stacks of paper, or worse - losing the paper all together.
There are a lot of great software systems out there that allow you to create invoices, prepare estimates, issue purchase orders, review pricing, manage inventory, update data, and create and edit invoices electronically.
Finding the benchmark right software can do a lot for your business and help the environment. To find the right software for your company, check out the Software Selection Guide.
If you're ready to go completely paperless- check out 6 Tips For A 'Paperless' Office
photo credit: House of Sims
What can one blog do to change the world? Alone, not much, but pair it with thousands of blogs from all over the world and big things can happen.
Last year over 12,000 bloggers and 14 million readers came together
Blog Action Day to change the conversation about poverty. Join us on October 15 as we take part in this year's Blog Action Day focusing on climate change. Connect with millions of others who will be working together to make a difference.
One day. One Issue. Thousands of voices.
At DataCraft, we're excited to be participating in Blog Action Day. We're also really excited to have Kim Adams-Bakke from the Rock River Valley Food Pantry as our guest blogger for this week.
Staggering numbers, increasing percentages, millions affected-I'm not talking about the Wall Street bailout but about people living at the poverty level in Illinois!
It is astounding to me that today in Winnebago County, where the majority of the Rock River Valley Pantry clients live, 41,900 people live below the poverty line (annual income of $20,650 for a family of four) and another 21,200 individuals live in extreme poverty ($10,325 annual income for a family of four). These individuals are children, the elderly, employed men and women, the disabled, and the homeless, going hungry. Hunger is a hidden symptom of poverty.
Hunger effects the preschooler that is developing both cognitively and physically, the first grader sitting in the classroom that can't concentrate because his belly is growling, the single mom at the end of the month scraping together change from the bottom of her purse to buy milk, and the grandmother wearing her coat and sitting under a blanket in her home in order to keep the heat turned as low as possible in order to have money for food.
For the majority of our clients the hardest thing they have ever done was to cross our threshold and ask for food for themselves and their families. We have lost count of the number of times we have heard, "If it wasn't for my children needing to eat I wouldn't be here asking for help." A person's life can change overnight, with one phone call, with one layoff notice. As a matter of fact some of today's Pantry clients were yesterday's donors!
At the Rock River Valley Pantry our clients are eligible for two days worth of food each month. We would love to be able to provide more but right now we are trying to ride out the "perfect storm." A storm that finds us with donors that have less discretionary income to help support the Pantry and yet a client base that grew by 35% over the last six months, a storm that finds funding agencies, corporations, and foundations with fewer funds available to help those that may be giving up a meal so that a child can eat.
If you would like to be part of the fight against hunger we can use your help as warehouse volunteers, food drive coordinators at your place of work, with food recovery from local retailers, program sponsors, individual donations, and advocates for those that need help. 
Hunger exists-you may not see it but it is happening all around you. Ask the more than 63,000 individuals here in Winnebago County what they had to eat today.
The Rock River Valley Pantry is located at: 1080 Short Elm Street Rockford, IL 61102 (815) 965-2466
For one day, approximately 4,800 bloggers from around the world will take a break from their usual topics to join together to discuss an issue that affects billions of people world-wide: poverty. Please join us on Wednesday, October 15 for Blog Action Day, as guest blogger Kim Adams-Bakke of the Rock River Valley Food Pantry discusses how poverty affects us and what we can do to help out on the DataCraft, Inc. blog. Join us and the millions of others who will be working together to change the conversation about poverty. For more information check out the Blog Action Day Website or watch the video below. Please check out the Rock River Valley Food Pantry to see how one small action can make a big difference. See you on October 15th!