Offices using less paper.

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Predictions of a paperless workplace have been around for decades. A Business Week article, "The Office of the Future" once famously predicted that by 1990 "most record-handling will be electronic." But now, thanks to new technology and a computer-savvy workforce, those predictions may finally be coming to fruition.

According to a report by The Christian Science Monitor, the past few years have seen a slowdown in paper sales in the United States, which analysts attribute to advances in digital databases and communication systems, employment trends, and a generation of office workers who are more comfortable with new technology.

In the early to mid-'90s, a booming economy and improved desktop printers helped boost paper sales by 6 to 7 percent each year. The ease of desktop printing allowed office workers to print anything and everything effortlessly and cheaply.

But today, the growth rate of paper sales in the United States is flattening by about half a percent each year. Between 2004 and 2005, according to Merilyn Dunn, communications supplies director for market research firm Info-Trends/CAP Ventures, plain white office paper will see less than a 4 percent growth rate, despite the strong overall economy.

A primary reason for the change, she told The Christian Science Monitor, is that...