Ecology & Society

Calendars, shopping lists and meeting notes are moving onto smartphones, into apps and into the cloud. Yet desks are still often littered with notebooks and Post-it notes, calendars hang on the wall and shopping lists are tucked away in trouser pockets, just as they always have been. Why is that, actually? A look at how different generations use paper in their daily lives shows that paper isn’t going away. But when and how we use it is changing.

In the Middle Ages, many things were dirtier than they are today. Yet, at the same time, surprisingly little was thrown away. Why packaging was considered a possession back then, how paper was made from old rags – and what we can learn from this today.

Why do we still mark our ballots on paper? Because paper ballots are visible, verifiable and can be recounted. They create something that digital systems find difficult to guarantee, but which is needed now more than ever: democratic trust.

A book can be more than just printed paper between two covers. Some books have a distinctive scent, unfold whole worlds, play with typography, make characters leap off the page or come to life via an app. Seven examples show just how surprising, sensory and experimental the medium of the book can be.

Recycled paper, buying fewer new items, better lists of materials: five tips for a sustainable start to the new school year.

Around 300,000 end-of-life boats are awaiting disposal in Europe alone. Most of them no longer float, but are left on flatbed trailers in backyards, left to rot in harbours or rusting away on company premises. It is a problem that hardly anyone talks about. And yet it exists. The Hamburg-based company ReBoat has decided to tackle it.