# Please stop reminding me not to print emails.. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579 "2011-07-01T23:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/1 "2011-07-01T23:54:41Z")
Not worthy of the pit but a little venting is needed. What is with those people who feel the need to tell me in their sig - “Please do not print this email unless you have to”, sometimes in green and a picture of a tree for added effect. Yeah, you know what, until I read this in your email I had a bizarre fetish to print any email I got. I would log in and just open all the emails and print\*\* each and every one of them\*\* including the ones from my Nigerian friends!! I just love printing emails. :rolleyes: And of course you had to put it in your sig because you know my memory span lasts only a second or even less, and so unless you reminded me of this in every email of yours, I would go into this mad “email printing disorder” over and over again. Thanks again!!:rolleyes: Is it that these people actually did print emails only as a matter of habit or whatever, even if they did not need a hard copy and only when someone sent them this message in his sig did they realize that they need not print emails and now feel the need to send this message to others? Seriously… ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/2 "2011-07-01T23:57:30Z")
I don’t anymore but when I was in college I used to print them by the reams! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/3 "2011-07-02T00:55:36Z")
> [@wisernow](#): > > What is with those people who feel the need to tell me in their sig - “Please do not print this email unless you have to”, sometimes in green and a picture of a tree for added effect. > > Yeah, you know what, until I read this in your email I had a bizarre fetish to print any email I got. I would log in and just open all the emails and print\*\* each and every one of them\*\* including the ones from my Nigerian friends!! I just love printing emails. :rolleyes: > > And of course you had to put it in your sig because you know my memory span lasts only a second or even less, and so unless you reminded me of this in every email of yours, I would go into this mad “email printing disorder” over and over again. Thanks again!!:rolleyes: > > Is it that these people actually did print emails only as a matter of habit or whatever, even if they did not need a hard copy and only when someone sent them this message in his sig did they realize that they need not print emails and now feel the need to send this message to others? Seriously… You may not have “mad printing disease” but plenty of other people do. My agency has been getting away from paper. We keep case records electronically. We are only supposed to print entries when specific events take place. Some people print the whole record each time they add an entry. Our timesheets are submitted electronically - some people print a copy of each timesheet. The agency-wide and various office directories are updated monthly and stored on a public drive- people print them and wonder why all the phone numbers are wrong when they are using a two year old printed copy rather than the up-to-date electronic directory. I haven’t received an ordinary printed memo in five years - they are sent as email attachments. People print copies of these, along with any other emails they receive. Forget the tree and the message about saving the environment - I want to put a picture of a $10 bill and a message saying " The paper budget will only stretch so far" ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/4 "2011-07-02T00:59:03Z")
A lot of us DON’T put that on as part of our email. Many businesses auto-append legal boilerplate to all outgoing emails, and some companies put the “Please don’t print this unless you have to” bullshit as part of that crap. And better yet, it auto-appends it in such a way that it looks like a standard email signature block, so you get people like the OP bitching at us for something we’ve got no goddamn control over. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/5 "2011-07-02T02:02:30Z")
My renewable forest investment is going belly up because you dopes won’t print anything anymore. Thousands of acres of trees now under contract to several developers. Without a need for these trees, I guess it’s gonna be condos and strip malls. Same thing happened to the Christmas tree farms in my family. No need for the trees, now they are home to McMansions. Please print this post to save the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/6 "2011-07-02T02:51:55Z")
I work in an industry where there’s a legal requirement to provide hard copies of e-mail correspondence under certain circumstances, and the law specifies that the entire printed e-mail has to be provided. Other legislation requires it to be presented in redacted form, removing anything deemed to be personal information it would be unlawful to disclose. This means that each page has to be copied again after redaction, otherwise the text isn’t properly obscured. In spite of this requirement, it’s surprising how many companies in our industry still adopt the “P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.” as part of their signature. Jeez, practically the only times e-mails get printed is because it’s mandated. For a while, I kept a growing stack of pages that had to be printed - twice - _only_ to accommodate the signature. If you know that the law frequently requires that your correspondence be printed out, if you really cared about the environment you’d shave that monster sig down as much as possible, set your e-mail client up to omit it for replies, and take the time to delete old quoted text from long threads when you reply. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/7 "2011-07-02T03:05:09Z")
Does anyone else remember the April Fools day prank when Gmail introduced their google paper service? > **[Gmail](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2Fu%2F0%2F&emr=1&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2Fu%2F0%2F&ifkv=AXo7B7WyPB2PrdfpNkQqy2A4pu1YWThOay5U5GLaZnOuRJ39HqUi0T5pNn4Rq0f9fyRPwI-Lud53EQ&osid=1&passive=1209600&service=mail&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S-1727145723%3A1691311016947967)** > > Gmail is email that’s intuitive, efficient, and useful. 15 GB of storage, less spam, and mobile access. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/8 "2011-07-02T18:59:26Z")
A guy I know worked for a government agency that was all full of the \*go green \* rah-rah. Their standard tag line was “Think before you print this email”. So he had his own versions. I don’t still have any examples but they were close to this: Think before you print this email. You might want to turn on some lights or something so you can see the paper better. Think before you print this email. You might want to print extra copies for the files. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/9 "2011-07-02T20:53:39Z")
It is particularly annoying when I print an email (which is rare) and it uses an extra sheet of paper just because of the “Please consider the environment” message at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/10 "2011-07-02T21:17:31Z")
How do you set up Outlook to remove your sig from a reply? ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/11 "2011-07-02T21:26:38Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > How do you set up Outlook to remove your sig from a reply? In Outlook 2007: Tools -\> Options -\> Mail Format tab -\> Signatures button -\> Choose Default Signatures drop-down for Replies/Forwards, set to (none). ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/12 "2011-07-03T07:14:07Z")
I block all “Fwds.” It’s like going out to the mailbox & getting something addressed to “Resident.” (my cousin doesn’t understand this.) If I get an email (to me!) & somebody says “Don’t print this” I’m like Wha…? I’ll frame it & hang it for Christmas if I wanna…" ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/13 "2011-07-03T21:04:34Z")
I’ve had a couple bosses that “made themselves more efficient” by ignoring email. At set times of the day, their secretaries would bring them the printed out copies of that day’s emails; they’d go through the paper copies, make notes on the reply, then give it back to the secretary to type and send the email. For one of them, I could always tell that the response came directly from him when it didn’t have capital letters, punctuation, or proper spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-reminding-me-not-to-print-emails/587579/14 "2011-07-04T00:16:10Z")
Please don’t respond to this email to save the electricity and bandwidth needed for porn.