Save a Tree, Get a 250 GB Free File Hosting Account from File Dropper

You may have seen our recent 10 Steps to a Greener Office, Top 10 Ways to NOT Screw the Earth at Work and The Best Green Office Furniture -- and hopefully all that info got you thinking about going a little greener around the ol' office (or The Office). Read on for how a limited promotion from File Dropper can help you save trees and get your work done.

It's a "true fact" that the average American consumes more than 700 pounds of paper a year, the world's highest per capita figure. While forests store 50% of the world's terrestrial carbon, which would otherwise contribute to global warming, half the world's forests have already been cleared or burned, and 80% of what's left has been seriously degraded. Bummer!

A whopping 42% of the industrial wood harvest is used to make paper, and the paper industry is the 4th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. manufacturing.

Recycling (and buying post-consumer recycled) paper certainly helps: Compared to using virgin pulp, paper made with 100% recycled content uses 44% less energy, produces 38% less greenhouse gas emissions, 41% less particulate emissions, 50% less wastewater and 49% less solid waste. But these days only about half of office paper is recovered for recycling. A great start, but we got a ways to go. Plus, recycling still takes some resources and time, and fibers can't be reworked forever before they start breaking down.

Here's one idea to save paper: instead of printing everything out, upload documents you need to reference or share on the Internets! As the File Dropper service points out, "Over 1000 acres [of forest] are deforested every day [a Panama-sized swath in a year]. Its obscene. Most of them are destroyed and turned into paper that we use for less than a few hours."

Instead, get your upload on. Until January 15, File Dropper is offering 250 GB file hosting accounts for free. "We don't want you to waste paper printing," the site points out. You can use these accounts to upload as many documents as you like and share them with all of your friends.

So give it a try, and see if it helps you save paper, as well as make your life easier. The site is exceedingly easy to use. I was told by a spokesperson for the site that my account will be good, and free, for a lifetime (it technically says mine is "paid" through January 18, 2038, but the spokesperson told me it will extend, it's just that Linux didn't allow a later date). Nice.