Earth Week tip: Switch to paperless earnings statements

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Jay Butler says waste reduction is in his DNA, and that’s why he’s hoping this year’s Earth Week inspires more UO employees to switch to paperless earnings statements that keep uneeded trash out of the waste stream.

Butler is a payroll and retirement specialist at the UO who views the world from a waste-reduction viewpoint. He said it’s always on his mind — at home, in the car and in the workplace. An avid recycler and composter most of his life, Butler has made waste reduction a mission.

When he started working in the payroll office two years ago, it didn’t take him long to realize the department could save a lot of paper and resources. After crunching the numbers, Butler discovered that 90 percent of UO employees have direct deposit but only half receive a paperless statement.

“We noticed that every time someone came to pick up a paper check, their earnings statement would go in the garbage right outside the office,” Butler said.

He assumed if people who receive paper checks didn’t want a physical earnings statement, then the people who had direct deposit probably didn’t either. He was correct. After talking to direct deposit receivers, he discovered that people either didn’t know a paperless earnings statement was an option or they didn’t know how to change their settings on DuckWeb.

For those reasons, Butler offers the following steps to make deposit statements paperless:

  • Log into DuckWeb at https://duckweb.uoregon.edu. If you do not remember your PAC login, call human resources at 541-346-3159.
  • Once logged onto DuckWeb, choose the “Employee Information” tab. Next, select “Pay information.”
  • Then select “Earnings Statement.”
  • Uncheck the box and hit “display.”

Earnings statements are available to all UO employees through DuckWeb. In January, the payroll office printed 5,059 earnings statements. If the trend continues, payroll will print 60,708 statements in one year.

If more UO employees signed up for paperless statements, the university would significantly cut back on paper, envelopes and postage, saving money while helping the environment, not to mention preventing identity theft, Butler said.

“Not only would business affairs save money, but each department could save a little bit of money,” said Butler. “That little bit of money could be the difference of having one more student worker or two student workers or having enough money for supplies,” he said.

The Student Sustainability Center will have opportunities for UO employees to sign up for paperless earnings statements during their Earth Week activities. Signup sheets will be available at many of the activities during the week, including one on April 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside the Erb Memorial Union.

View the Earth Week schedule at http://emu.uoregon.edu/sustainability. Sign-up sheets also will be available at the ASUO Street Fair from May 11-12.

—By Talia Smith, Finance and Administration