Save A Tree From Your Email Signature
On an email from my brother-in-law today I saw this interesting little tidbit under his signature. I found it surprising and inspiring at the same time. Surprising because I hadn’t pegged him for a greenie. Inspiring because he’s taken the time to put this there, and it reminds me how easy it is for any of us to use our email to help make a difference.
If you want to recreate this particular message, simply type the words into your signature using your mail preferences (or whatever message you’d like). The little tree icon is a capital “P” within the Webdings font. It may not be the most ideal icon for this message, but its found on most computers, be they Mac or PC.
Do you really need to print that email? In most cases, no. And in most cases we don’t print our emails, but I’ve known some people who have a very old-school style when it comes to dealing with email (print, read, reply). A friendly reminder might just save a little more paper and encourage some to think twice about other documents that may not need to be printed. I’ve already added it to my signature.
More green e-mail signatures on:
http://carbon-free.of-cour.se/green-email-signatures/
Hello.
As you said, nobody really knows how to get that signature straight from the search box.
I’ve had to search a lot of blogs to get this.
Silla!
I came across this while looking for a green email signature and/or group to promote re: the same at the bottom of my email.
I’ve noticed that MANY of the signatures have the little tree/path picture, and since I didn’t know who “owned” that I didn’t use it. Mine simply says “consider the enviornment before printing this email. Reduse, recycle, reuse.”
thanks for the blog!!
Since you’re asking for comments – I came here because I’m looking for evidence that it works. It strikes me as silly (and a tad patronizing) since I can’t imagine someone deciding not to print because of this warning. It also looks counterproductive since it makes every email longer by 2-3 lines, which is sometimes enough to overflow into the next page. The sender feels good and superior, but the environment does not benefit – this is how we get a bad name.
An interesting perspective, Mozza. I have no proof that it works, nor do I claim to offer one here. Perhaps we are preaching to the converted.
I would offer that if it keeps one from printing the email then an extra line or three makes little difference in an email.
But I do concede that I’ve seen some more polite ways to phrase the request since publishing this, such as, “Please consider the environment before printing this email.”
You do not have to copy the picture or jpeg to get this signature. To get the tree icon, change your font to webdings. It is a Capital “P” in webdings. Then just change to the color to green and change the font back.
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Thanks for a wonderful post, l ve been looking for such information, I will join jour rss feed now.
Will you write a few articles for me. The jotting style is actually outstanding.
Hi guys, its amaxing how many people feel that a green email is offensive, whilst the other half feel it is an insignificant reminder to think about the planet prior to printing an email. The green disclaimer is not a new fad and nor is people sub concious telling them to make a logical decision. Not printing pages is counter-productive because no doubt you are driving a short distance or taking that extra plastic bag that harms our oceans. Such mixed emotions about the green email disclaimer, so much so, mine reads. Thinking of priniting an email, donate a dollar!
Personally I like something more along the lines of….
“Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing emails, web pages, reports, etc”
You can use whatever people tend to print a lot of at your employer if using at work – ie charts, graphs, documents.
Most people I know don’t print out emails but they have no problem printing off receipts after buying online, printing a 50 page document instead of making a PDF or printing a web article.
This message is nothing to do with any green email or advice but it can be considered a green message. A message from my 6 year old. My boy Shane has been tearing papers a lot lately to make his imaginary toys or just doing it for the fun of making mess. This has been going on for nearly a month and I had to put the stop to this before it become a permanent habit. He even took some of my important work documents and squash it like nothing. Even my wife nearly lost her shopping voucher worth RM50 which she just got it from Tesco from the mail. To rid of this new bad habit of his I took him on a tour of a jungle nearby and explain how his actions cause more trees to be brought down to make more paper. I never aspect any big changes will take place after that but he took it deeply and told me if i could write to the tress on his behalf he would like to apologise. He told me that he understood now that trees are our friends and being a living things he would not want to destroy them or make them mad. With his insistence I believe he do learn something from the experience.He actually sitting next to me during the writing of this email and he insist ending it with his initial.
I did not chose this website but it came first on Google. Regardless where we posted it, it is a message of apology from sincere heart. Hope the trees are listening.
S I
Ishak, a very unorthodox comment to this post, to be sure, but being the father of a 5- and 7-year-old myself, I can completely relate to your need to make such an apology public. I am honored that you chose my site upon which to express it.
There are lots of reasons to love trees; and also many ways to protect them. Avoiding printing your e-mail is one way; planting a tree in your garden is another good effort to green our planet.
Even if this message might not change the viewers decision to not print, it will definitely spread awareness… and overtime – it might change habits.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for allowing my 6 year old to use your site to express his inner conscience. As a father I m glad that he actually learned something about tree. It’s been a week already, he shown great attitude towards changes. Off course we still use a lot of paper in our lives, at least I know now he will treat it with respect.
Use only what you need.
Hello,
I was looking for a pre-made sentence to put in my emails as a standard signature. It’s prefect! I just saved the image (as you do by clicking on the image and it will open in a other page, with the right botton on your mouse you can save it) If you have gmail you can add the image as a picture.
Thanks
(sorry for the probably incorrect english but i’m dutch)
I have been thinking of ending my email signature with a blurb …..”keep your signature, logos & disclaimers to a minimal, you never know who might print it by accident, and there goes another tree in the forest”
…is there another way to say it..?
Not printing an email (or receiving an electronic statement instead of an emailed statement) is NOT saving a tree. Trees are grown as a commercial crop, in the same manner as corn or wheat. There are more trees in the US now than there were just a few decades ago. Consider the energy consumed by all of our electronic gadgets (and where do they end up when we move on to the next version?).
[...] Save A Tree From Your Email Signature | Twist of Lime Mine simply says “consider the enviornment before printing this email. … You do not have to copy the picture or jpeg to get this signature. … feel it is an insignificant reminder to think about the planet prior to printing an email. … [...]
Whenever I receive an email with the tree icon and the “think before you print” message, I think “Wow, I need to add that to my signature!” Today I finally took the time to do it, but didn’t know where to get the icon. I did a Google search (“save a tree”) and your blog is the search result that gave me exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!
Sylvia
Here’s a better one I found in my printer’s email signature:
Notice: It is OK to print this email. Paper is a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees. Growing and harvesting trees provides jobs for millions of men and women, and working forests are good for the environment, providing clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat and carbon storage. The printing industry using this same sustainable paper prints and mails billions of pieces annually and also employs millions more workers. When you don’t need your paper product anymore, be sure to put it in a bin designated for recycling, and it will come back as new paper or paperboard.
It’s certainly less condescending and more grounded in reality!
go green energy…
[...]Save A Tree From Your Email Signature | Twist of Lime[...]…
It’s not just the paper which should be considered but also the ink/toner and the electricity to run the printer. My signature includes “P Please consider your carbon footprint before printing this email”.
Also, many people use larger fonts than necessary leading to excessive sheets being printed when people don’t use print preview, use a tidy font size and go easy on the return, unless your recipient needs visual assistance.