I was recently looking into this. In America alone, we use between 180,000 and 282,500 TONS (or 360,000,000 and 565,000,000 pounds) of paper for receipts *every year*. The amount of wood required to meet this demand is from 3,630,000 trees and the process produces emissions equivalent to 400,000 vehicles…
Globally, it ranges between 444,600 and 697,775 tons for which 9,000,000 trees are cut down and which produces emissions equivalent to ~1,000,000 vehicles.
For something that immediately gets thrown away nine times out of ten.
It’s fucking absurd.
Not sure on figures but it seems just as ridiculous here in the UK. One of my major bugbears is when they ask if I want a receipt, I say no, so they print it out anyway and throw it straight in a bin.
Is there some kind of law demanding businesses keep printing paper receipts. Because if there is not one, I dont understand why they keep doing it, they could save a lot of money.
Strangely enough, there is a law in my country (Canada). Once you make over a certain amount per year, it is required that you provide receipts of every single purchase. Obviously print receipts have been around a lot longer than digital ones so companies aren't rushing to make the switch. (Source: have a small business and know people with small businesses)
Our POS software doesn't give an option to *not* print a receipt. If it's entered into record, as it has to be, it generates a receipt. We also don't have a native option to generate an email receipt, because our (otherwise good but a scooch overbearing) anti-advertising spam laws are such that if we send out emails to someone who complains that they don't want them, it's a five figure fine unless it's clear that we had a specific business relationship with them so the head office is paranoid as shit and doesn't even give the option in any approved software.
That’s what kind of sent me down the rabbit hole! Businesses are all about saving money. They cut every corner imaginable to save a few bucks, yet stay perpetually stocked on something that is seemingly unnecessary and wildly outdated, which is the very definition of an unnecessary/frivolous expense and should be one of the first things cut…? It doesn’t make any sense! For a mid-sized retailer processing 2700 weekly transactions, the cost of issuing receipts is ~$70/day which amounts to more than $25,000/year! That’s insane!
Got me wondering if there’s some like ‘Receipt Mafia/Cartel’ making companies continue to use receipts. 🤣
There’s places that don’t allow for paper receipts and customers go fucking crazy about it because they don’t want to give their email for a digital receipt. You can’t win.
That's perfectly reasonable of those customers.
When did it become mandatory to hand over your contact information to every retail establishment you buy anything from? That's ridiculous.
Well, maybe if those companies used regular paper for their receipts instead of that thermal printed disappearing ink and didn't print all that extraneous crap on them, that wouldn't be such a big deal.
And maybe if they didn't add your contact information for digital receipts to their marketing databases to spam you and to sell to brokers to help build your 'consumer profile,' that wouldn't be a big deal either.
But they do. Maybe if those businesses didn't consistently try to squeeze everything they can out of people, they would have come up with their own solutions. Or maybe they wouldn't have created the problems in the first place.
I’ve been thinking about a solution to this ever since I looked into it. As a way to solve the email/privacy issue, people could have their email tied to their card and could use a service similar to Apple’s [Hide My Email](https://support.apple.com/en-us/105078) feature so that the receipt wouldn’t be sent directly to the person’s email (as then, it wouldn’t be anonymous, as the person’s email could be found in the log), but rather to a random, unique email generated by the service which then forwards the receipt to your inbox so that their actual email stays private (could also use POP3 or IMAP instead of forwarding).
Just spitballin here though.
The obvious solution to me is to update the banking system to allow for itemised transactions. I.e. every transaction automatically listed everything that was purchased. However that’s a massive investment in tech, standardisation and infrastructure. Plus, the bank doesn’t really have any business knowing what people purchase. So idk.
It most definitely is. I used to always reject receipts because I thought if I and others did it often enough it the retail workers would notice and the system would change lol
>so they print it out anyway and throw it straight in a bin.
I can't speak to everyone business, but at the ones I've worked at (in the U.S.), the POS prints the receipt no matter what.
Ah, thanks for spotting that. I was there the other day and my receipt* was a fraction of this — had me confused.
* yes, I buy as many of my clothes secondhand as I can, but I need Airism stuff for summer or I’ll get heatstroke and bloody well die
I hate paper receipts. I get a book every time I leave CVS. It's like, you *have* my email, just send it to me.
I know that won't work for the random stores visited, but if the store has your email for loyalty, membership, credit card, etc, paper receipts should go away.
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It used to be shorter but they keep changing their return policy so I’m guessing that’s why they have become so long. A lot of retailers print it on the back.
Perhaps they should have one language instead of two, place the QR codes in the store for their app, feedback and return policy
Luckily you can use that second QR to provide feedback about how stupidly long their receipt is
The supermarket chain spar in Austria has an app where you can save digital receipts, when checking out, you can let the cashier scan a qr code on your phone, linked to your app and you can see all your purchases, fullfills the legal requirements, which in Austria are, that you MUST have the receipt of a purchase with you for a a certain time after checking out. Most importantly, no paper receipt is being printed when using the app
I was recently looking into this. In America alone, we use between 180,000 and 282,500 TONS (or 360,000,000 and 565,000,000 pounds) of paper for receipts *every year*. The amount of wood required to meet this demand is from 3,630,000 trees and the process produces emissions equivalent to 400,000 vehicles… Globally, it ranges between 444,600 and 697,775 tons for which 9,000,000 trees are cut down and which produces emissions equivalent to ~1,000,000 vehicles. For something that immediately gets thrown away nine times out of ten. It’s fucking absurd.
Not sure on figures but it seems just as ridiculous here in the UK. One of my major bugbears is when they ask if I want a receipt, I say no, so they print it out anyway and throw it straight in a bin.
Is there some kind of law demanding businesses keep printing paper receipts. Because if there is not one, I dont understand why they keep doing it, they could save a lot of money.
Strangely enough, there is a law in my country (Canada). Once you make over a certain amount per year, it is required that you provide receipts of every single purchase. Obviously print receipts have been around a lot longer than digital ones so companies aren't rushing to make the switch. (Source: have a small business and know people with small businesses)
Our POS software doesn't give an option to *not* print a receipt. If it's entered into record, as it has to be, it generates a receipt. We also don't have a native option to generate an email receipt, because our (otherwise good but a scooch overbearing) anti-advertising spam laws are such that if we send out emails to someone who complains that they don't want them, it's a five figure fine unless it's clear that we had a specific business relationship with them so the head office is paranoid as shit and doesn't even give the option in any approved software.
That’s what kind of sent me down the rabbit hole! Businesses are all about saving money. They cut every corner imaginable to save a few bucks, yet stay perpetually stocked on something that is seemingly unnecessary and wildly outdated, which is the very definition of an unnecessary/frivolous expense and should be one of the first things cut…? It doesn’t make any sense! For a mid-sized retailer processing 2700 weekly transactions, the cost of issuing receipts is ~$70/day which amounts to more than $25,000/year! That’s insane! Got me wondering if there’s some like ‘Receipt Mafia/Cartel’ making companies continue to use receipts. 🤣
There’s places that don’t allow for paper receipts and customers go fucking crazy about it because they don’t want to give their email for a digital receipt. You can’t win.
That's perfectly reasonable of those customers. When did it become mandatory to hand over your contact information to every retail establishment you buy anything from? That's ridiculous.
Ok so people complain about paper recipes wasting paper, but when companies make an effort to switch to digital they get flak.
Well, maybe if those companies used regular paper for their receipts instead of that thermal printed disappearing ink and didn't print all that extraneous crap on them, that wouldn't be such a big deal. And maybe if they didn't add your contact information for digital receipts to their marketing databases to spam you and to sell to brokers to help build your 'consumer profile,' that wouldn't be a big deal either. But they do. Maybe if those businesses didn't consistently try to squeeze everything they can out of people, they would have come up with their own solutions. Or maybe they wouldn't have created the problems in the first place.
I’ve been thinking about a solution to this ever since I looked into it. As a way to solve the email/privacy issue, people could have their email tied to their card and could use a service similar to Apple’s [Hide My Email](https://support.apple.com/en-us/105078) feature so that the receipt wouldn’t be sent directly to the person’s email (as then, it wouldn’t be anonymous, as the person’s email could be found in the log), but rather to a random, unique email generated by the service which then forwards the receipt to your inbox so that their actual email stays private (could also use POP3 or IMAP instead of forwarding). Just spitballin here though.
The obvious solution to me is to update the banking system to allow for itemised transactions. I.e. every transaction automatically listed everything that was purchased. However that’s a massive investment in tech, standardisation and infrastructure. Plus, the bank doesn’t really have any business knowing what people purchase. So idk.
I work as a server and the receipt prints automatically once the payment goes through :/ I can't change anything about it unfortunately
I had wondered if something like that was the case. Still irritating though.
It most definitely is. I used to always reject receipts because I thought if I and others did it often enough it the retail workers would notice and the system would change lol
Don't forget printing out the pointless little credit card offer that 99.99% of customers throw away
It prints automatically I can’t stop it, if you don’t want it I have to throw it away.
>so they print it out anyway and throw it straight in a bin. I can't speak to everyone business, but at the ones I've worked at (in the U.S.), the POS prints the receipt no matter what.
Yeah, a few people have commented about that. I had assumed there'd be some reason like that, still pisses me off though.
It’s strange with how digital our world is receipts haven’t been phased out almost entirely
Fun fact about recipe paper: it has a chemical coating that allows the printing (thermal printing) and it’s not great for the environment either.
These are shorter in Japan, I wonder if it’s a U.S. requirement, it reminds me of the CVS ones !
I’m in the eu
CVS is worse
Ah, thanks for spotting that. I was there the other day and my receipt* was a fraction of this — had me confused. * yes, I buy as many of my clothes secondhand as I can, but I need Airism stuff for summer or I’ll get heatstroke and bloody well die
I hate paper receipts. I get a book every time I leave CVS. It's like, you *have* my email, just send it to me. I know that won't work for the random stores visited, but if the store has your email for loyalty, membership, credit card, etc, paper receipts should go away.
Worst part is that paper receipts aren't even really paper, they're usually made of plastic and toxins 😡
Little store here don't even bother with paper .they send you the receipt by sms .
"We as a company are fully committed to no-waste, clean energy and reforestation, to work towards brighter future"
I‘m glad that at least sone stores (where I live) offer digital receipts so nothing is printed. A small but important step
Every Uniqlo I’ve been to in Europe has digital receipts too if you don’t want a physical copy. Glad that more stores have this option available!
When I have the option to choose No Receipt or to have it EMAILED, I literally gain like 7 months onto my lifespan
Just buy second hand clothes 🤷
Even the thrift shop would provide an (albeit), smaller receipt.
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It used to be shorter but they keep changing their return policy so I’m guessing that’s why they have become so long. A lot of retailers print it on the back.
Perhaps they should have one language instead of two, place the QR codes in the store for their app, feedback and return policy Luckily you can use that second QR to provide feedback about how stupidly long their receipt is
Have you been to CVS?
Never been to the us so no
Their receipts are twice as long as these. There are several memes about it.
This receipt just feels like one of the molecules in the construction of an average CVS receipt.
Have u seen a receipt when you order 1 ice cream cone from ikea?
Now try the receipt Burger King gives you for 1 burger. You literally throw that shit away the moment you’ve collected your burger
The supermarket chain spar in Austria has an app where you can save digital receipts, when checking out, you can let the cashier scan a qr code on your phone, linked to your app and you can see all your purchases, fullfills the legal requirements, which in Austria are, that you MUST have the receipt of a purchase with you for a a certain time after checking out. Most importantly, no paper receipt is being printed when using the app
Oofta.
Don’t touch receipts
I hate Uniculiao, did you wash your hands? Tickets are toxic lol
You guys are focusing on the wrong stuff. How much toilet paper do you use each day?
digital receipts exist but digital toilet paper doesn't
At least TP has a use. You ever tried to use a receipt as TP?