The Campaign

As writing on paper forms a critical part of a student’s development, we wanted an idea that makes them use less paper without forcing them to write less. Our simple solution to this uphill task was a tiny design tweak. We reduced the line-space in the standard writing paper that was being used by the students from 7.5 to 6.5 millimetres. This shortened line-space was perfect as it was just enough to make a big difference without the students or the teachers even noticing something had been altered. With this, we managed to keep the students feeling comfortable while writing and their teachers found it legible while reading.

Creative Execution

This idea was one of the simplest to execute. Our new product is the same old sheet of writing paper with a new standard of line-space – 6.5 instead of 7.5 millimetres. For the students as well as the teachers, it is the same standard writing paper. But in reality it now has 36 line-spaces instead of 30. To adopt this new standard, Lyceum of the Philippines has advised all its vendors to follow the new standard.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Lyceum Of The Philippines has already started implementing “The Green Millimetre” in all its campuses by advising all its vendors to implement the new standard. Collectively, this will lead to an annual saving of more than 500 trees. The real game-changer would be when this idea touches every single educational institution across the nation as well as outside. Our biggest result was felt when we tested the new paper with a fresh batch of students and teachers who didn’t even notice any difference. The impact of this idea is disproportionate to the effort an individual needs to make in terms of saving paper.

We wanted to reduce the line-space but didn’t know how much would be enough to make a significant impact without creating any botheration in the educational process. Using two determinants – ease of writing and legibility, we experimented by progressively reducing the line-space. The 6.5 millimetre (instead of the current 7.5) was the sweet spot, where students were most comfortable to write and teachers found it legible to read). It meant that students could write the same amount of words and they would end up saving up to 16.67% of the space. We went a step further by testing this new standard of line-space with a fresh batch of students and teachers. The group did not notice a difference at all.