Paper That Erases Itself?

As the Earth moves on to becoming more “green”, scientists are inventing the most amazing creations known to mankind. Researchers at Xerox have been able to create a type of paper that erases itself within twenty four hours, making recycling unnecessary. The key to this paper is that ink is not used to print on it. Instead, a certain type of light is projected on to the paper. Over time, the text or image printed fades. The whole process takes between sixteen and twenty four hours. The page can also be erased quickly by exposing it to heat. The paper is still a research project and needs to polished and improved before it can hit the market.

In the long run, this invention could save millions of trees and eliminate paper recycling all together. The researchers are working on producing printers that print with the necessary type of light. The only issue I see with this invention is the cost of the paper and the “ink”. If they’re too expensive, people won’t be willing to make the switch. Unfortunately, a majority of the population still isn’t concerned with the amount of paper we use each day. According to TreeHugger.com, “40% [of paper] gets discarded on the day it was produced (and a lot of the rest gets discarded not much later, or gets stuffed in a box and is never looked at again).” Every day I see people at my school who print out at least ten pages that they really didn’t need to print. Corporate offices also consume an incredible amount of paper each day. Although e-mail is being used more and more as a means of communication, faxes are still being sent nonstop. Inventions like Xerox’s “erasable paper” can help make people more aware of the need to recycle and reuse paper. The forests will thank us later.