Before we get started – yes, technically regular paper is erasable if you just use a pencil and have enough time on your hands.
But a new form of erasable paper called i2R e-Paper could prove to be a real alternative to the tree-based pulp printing businesses have been using for decades. While the invention is cool in and of itself, the best part of the discovery is the impact it could have on the number of trees being cut down every year, as each piece of i2R e-Paper can be printed on up to 260 times.
Imagine how many trees that would save were it to be adopted around the world, particularly for commercial purposes such as large posters.
How i2R e-Paper works
e-Paper has been around for some time, but has never been seen as a viable option to pulp-based paper because it needed to be plugged in for it to record any writing on it. The i2R e-Paper differs in that it requires no backlight or power source to record what’s written on it, and even without power can display different colours.
To erase what’s on it, you simply plug it in and flip a switch, and then you can print on it again. Alternately, the paper can be run through a “reverse-printer” that operates like a fax machine, but wipes the paper clean.
Find out more about how i2R e-Paper works, and see a demonstration of it in the video below:
