What’s up with paper receipts? Who is lobbying for them? International Paper? Weyerhaeuser? Why do we need them? In this day and age they’re totally silly. Receipts should be opt-in. If you have a phone, a credit card and you made a purchase, your record should be in the retail computer aka the register.
Sometimes I buy two items and my receipt is 14 inches long. Coupons, cross promotions for gas, who knows what else. Not me, I put the receipt in the trash. Or in the front seat of the car until it blows out the window (jkjk). I am the type of consumer who does not leave a store with paper or plastic bags. No need to waste resources or add to the landfill. And I am not alone. Many shoppers feel the same way, especially the young. But retailers feel obligated to push this paper and plastic waste on us.
I went to SXSW Music one year and every attendee was given a big bag of paper and CDs. The majority of attendees kept the bag but put all the paper and plastic on a spare table by the front window. It became a monument. Their way of saying “Stop the waste.” What would happen if we simply dropped our receipts on the floors of our retailers…right by the counter. (Make it looks like an accident.)
Revolt against waste. One receipt at a time. Peace.
