While
digital note taking is gradually catching up with next gen, earlier generation
still prefers the pen and paper approach. Note taking many a times in our day
to day routine, is very ad-hoc and unstructured. This leads to notes getting
scattered across various books or pages which have high chances of getting
misplaced. Plus gradual accumulation of lot and lot of old books. With many
individuals doing note taking in similar manner we end up cutting more and more
trees and damaging the nature with every passing moment.
So what
can we do in order to make our note taking eco-friendly as well as not
requiring extreme changes in our note taking habits? In this article I talk
about my eco-friendly note taking habits. For this we use following things:
- Spiral Book (I
prefer Navneet HQ | EZEE Disc Book (https://www.amazon.in/Navneet-HQ-Pages-Black-Color/dp/B082NGMGJY/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2TZ5WTBK9MBRW&keywords=hq%2Bnotebooks&qid=1579625203&sprefix=hq%2B%2Caps%2C299&sr=8-9&th=1) as it allows me
to rearrange the pages which adds convenience to note taking.
- Pilot Frixion C1 Roller Ball
Pen erasable pen (https://www.amazon.in/Pilot-Frixion-Roller-Ball-Pen/dp/B00WGNPH52/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Pilot+Frixion+C1+Roller+Ball+Pen&qid=1579631017&sr=8-1)
(For people using fountain pen erasable inks are available in the market) - Faber-Castell Eraser (Blue
and White) (We are more concerned about the blue part here which is an ink
eraser) (https://www.amazon.in/Faber-Castell-Blue-White-Eraser/dp/B07G6GZ35D/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Faber-Castell+Eraser&qid=1579631557&sr=8-3)
- Page scanning apps (I prefer using adobe scan or office lens) (Apps are available iOS as well)
- Adobe scan (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.scan.android)
- Microsoft Office Lens (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.officelens)
With all
this in place how do we go about note taking? Here is what I usually do:
- I take notes as per my requirement (daily/weekly)
- Scan to PDF using the app suggested above and share it if notes are to be shared
- Then on every weekend erase the book using eraser.
This way
I'm able to reuse a single book for several months there by reducing stack of
notebook which would pile up otherwise. Plus scanning the articles helps me
maintain the notes for long term basis without worry about loss and wear and
tear of pages.
If more and more people follow similar approach or something on these lines we can certainly reduce the amount of trees that need to be cut there by protecting nature.
