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Technology: File Format Enforces Paperless
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has come up with an idea they hope will get people to limit the number of documents that they print. WWF estimates that each person prints 1410 unnecessary pages each year. The idea is a new file format which prevent users from being able to print. The new file format is called .wwf. It’s really nothing new — WWF files are just encrypted PDF files with the print option disabled. The WWF hopes that the new repackaging and marketing of the new file format will get people to be more conscious about how frequently they print out documents.
The new file format was launched earlier this month by the German WWF. Within WWF a subgroup known as SaveAsWWF has been created to promote the format. Already the format has received some attention on Facebook and Twitter. At the WWF announcement of the introduction of the new file format, SaveAsWWF provided this statement: “About 13 million hectares of forest disappear each year, an area the size of Greece. Every minute, important habitats for plants and animals such as orangutans and elephants are cut down. Each tree that’s cut down means that another layer of environmental protection is lost.”
Software specifically for viewing the new file format is available, similar to Adobe’s AcroReader, on the site saveaswwf.com. The new file format can also be read by any application that already reads and views PDF format.
It will be interesting to see how much traction this new file format actually gains. Users may push back, seeing the new format as a productivity drain, when they find that printing is disabled for documents that they consider necessary to print.
