I guess it's time for me to start thinking about which colleges I'm going to apply to next year. Or at least that's what my mailbox it telling me. It seems like almost everyday I get a form letter from some college (most of them obscure) accompanied by some pretty pictures of its campus. While I appreciate getting these letters (I've discovered a few schools I might be interested in), I also feel kind of disgusted at the same time. I mean, think of all the wasted paper! Let's see.... hundreds of college letters multiplied by the millions of students they're being sent to.... and factoring in that almost every one of these letters is going to be thrown away or recycled at some eventually... and that's a lot of waste. It seems like could be some better way of doing this. To start, the letters should definitely be printed on recycled paper (I've only received a few that I could tell were on recycled paper). Next, they should have some reminder on them to recycle. Finally, a large portion of the paper accompanying the letter could be eliminated through the internet. For example, most letters have an empty envelope and a return card that you can fill out if you want more information about the college. On most of the cards I've received, it says that you can also reply via the internet (and in many cases they prefer you do this). Why not eliminate the card & envelope (most of the paper) and only use the website. It just seems like it'd be a more efficient, sustainable (economically for the colleges, and environmentally) practice that wouldn't detract from the point of sending out letters to student about the college. And it could save a whole bunch of trees!