For the rest of this year, Joe Bartin, science teacher, plans to teach about the universe using only 1,000 sheets of paper.

“I had this idea that I use a lot of paper in class,” Bartin said. “With the technology we have, I realized there are a lot of things we could be doing electronically.”

With that idea in mind, Bartin set up various accounts on sites like Moodle, Dropbox and Quia. In class, students use tablet computers for work, and all assignments are distributed and turned in electronically. Bartin teaches both Freshman Physics and Space and Planetary Science, but only chose to restrict paper usage in his three classes of Space and Planetary Science.

“I figure if I use one piece of paper per student per class, that’s 60 a day and 300 a week. That comes about to over 6,000 in a semester,” Bartin said.

Bartin finds himself not only pleased with the positive impact his choice has on the environment but on how he utilizes resources, as well.

“I have mainly two [motivations]. One is to obviously reduce the impact that my classes have on the environment and depleting resources,” Bartin said. “I also feel like there are a lot of tools we have now that make this possible, so I want to explore how I can use those in my classroom, so this forces me to use technology I may not have otherwise.”

So far, Bartin said he has not run into any problems. The largest impact the new routine has had is shaving off a few minutes at the beginning and end of classes to take out and put away computers. Bartin has not had any complaints from students.

“My students have been great. They’ve really bought into it. We had a few bumps getting it set up, but they’ve been very patient, and I’ve heard some positive feedback,” Bartin said.