Deforestation is one of the greatest environmental concerns in this time.  Giant paper producers play a large role in the destruction of million and millions of acres of forests throughout the world.  The only way to reduce the deforestation due to paper production is to decrease demand.  Recycling paper is a step in the right direction, but even recycling takes up energy and some of the fibers are lost in the process.  The most environmentally friendly option with paper use is to not use it!  There are plenty of ways to reduce your paper use in your everyday home life in ways that are not inconvenient.  Living in this new technological era with tons of gadgets makes reducing paper usage especially easy.

Bills/Banking
Now you can pay almost all of your bills online thanks to electronic banking.  Ask businesses to send you an e-bill instead of a paper statement.  Banks now let you pay your bills online instead of writing checks.   Receipts just get  tossed in the trash after a quick glance, so when given the option to not receive a receipt at places like the gas station or the atm say no thanks.

Notes
Lots of people leave notes on the refrigerator or bulletin board in the homes, but a paperless way to leave notes is with a whiteboard with dry erase markers.  You can also put notes or reminders on your computers using programs like Microsoft's OneNote or Evernote.  For notes that need to be more portable, like a grocery list, try using your cell phone.  If you don't have one of the fancy cell phones with an option for writing notes, just write a text message and save it in your drafts.

Dinnerware
When you go on a picnic or have a BBQ paper plates and one time use utensils, cups and bowls are often used.  Disposable dinnerware might make for easy clean up, but reusable glass or ceramic dinnerware is much easier on the environment.  

Napkins
Paper napkins are standard in most households, but cloth napkins happen to be a lot easier on the natural resources since they are reusable.  Just make sure you have enough of them to last you through the week so you don't have to constantly do a load of laundry just for the napkins.  

Grocery Bags
Paper or plastic?  The phrase you hear every time you stand in line at the grocery store check out.  Your answer should be neither.  Bring your own reusable grocery bag to the supermarket and help save some of the 14 million trees cut down every year to produce 10 billion paper bags.  Not only are reusable bags eco-friendly, but they can be stylish and personalized to fit your personality.  Check out this super cute leopard print bag, Zanzibar Collection Reusable Shopping Bag.

Paper Towels
Endless numbers of paper towels are used in households, especially if you live with kids.  However, a paper towel can easily be replaced by a sponge or cloth towel, both reusable, for cleaning up spills and wiping down counters.  When serving snacks try using a plate instead of a paper towel.

Newspapers, Magazines and Books
Choose a digital subscription to a magazine or newspaper instead of receiving the hard copy version.  Online news is always the most current since it can be easily updated.  If you really like reading a hard copy magazine try visiting your local library; they'll have subscriptions to every major publication.  While you're at the library check out a copy of a book instead of buying a new copy at a bookstore, this will help cut back on the 30 million trees cut down to make books for the United States alone.

Packaging
Buy items in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging used and avoid individually packed products, like one serving cereal boxes.  The amount of cardboard used to make a larger box is less than that to make two smaller boxes, so it is best to buy the larger size and buy less often.