by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The sustainability of the staple will also have to be called into question seeing that it is a one time use only product. The humble paper clip, on the other hand, can be removed and reused time and again.
Thus, on the sustainability scale, the humble paper clip outperforms the staple, in my opinion, hands down, and we don't even want to mention the staple-less stapler.
I sometimes wonder why we think that we have improved things by coming up with ever new inventions trying to make the old ones look dated. The staple-less stapler, for instance, is being tauted as being environmentally friendly as it uses no staples. Right, but it also can only clip up to three pages together, and that badly.
The ordinary stapler with the wire staple has its uses and especially when it comes to binding a number of pages on a permanent basis, as in a booklet or handouts or such. But in general use and especially as a temporary fixing nothing beats the time proved design of the humble paper clip.
The paper clip has stood the test of time by its simplicity of design and its functionality and no stapler or paper-less stapler can replace that. It simply is the best solution, and especially in the sustainability department.
The simplest designs are more often than not the best and so too with the humble paper clip.
The paper clip's greatest asset, as far as I am, and sustainability is, concerned is its reusability and that not just once, or twice, not just ten times, but nigh on for ever. Can something beat that.
© 2012
