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Paper Receipts Are Bad for Your Health and the Environment
Stop the madness, CVS
If you’ve ever stepped foot in a CVS, chances are you’ve crossed paths with a receipt worthy of a gold medal performance in rhythmic gymnastics at the Olympics. “Why are CVS receipts so long?” is a popular topic on social media. The slick, flimsy paper tentacles have extended themselves into internet culture with people posting pictures of themselves next to a receipt as tall as they are, dressing up as a CVS receipt for Halloween, and even invoking them in royal wedding memes.
But behind the innocuous folly is an environmental — and health — crisis. Every year, the United States consumes 3.3 million trees and 9 billion gallons of water, while emitting 4.6 billion pounds of CO2 in the process of paper receipt production. American consumers collect dozens of receipts every week at the bottom of their reusable shopping bags, in wallets in place of cash, or shoved into coat and pants pockets. Once the old scrolls have sufficiently taken up a bit too much space, the question turns on what to do with them. Most end up in the…
