About Choose Paper

Choose Paper advocates for the right of consumers to receive paper receipts by educating the public about their numerous benefits, sustainability and safety.

Firmly established in our daily lives, thermal paper is commonly used in retail receipts, point of sale (POS), credit card terminals, lottery tickets, packaging labels, pricing labels, or anywhere information needs to be printed quickly and economically.

Unlike typical printing paper, thermal paper works using heat rather than ink. The printer’s thermal head consists of small heating elements. The heating elements activate a colour reaction on the paper’s coating which makes up the numerous dots of an image, barcode or text.

Receipt paper comes from a renewable, natural resource – trees harvested from sustainably managed forests. A healthy market for forest products, like paper receipts, helps promote the long-term sustainable management of forests in regions such as Europe, North and South America, which in turn provides numerous ecological, social and economic benefits.

A printed receipt provides customers and businesses with essential proof of purchase required for record keeping, exchanges, refunds and product disputes . Unlike digital receipts, a printed receipt does not require the use of either an email address or a digital account and is therefore not susceptible to an online security breach. Printed receipts are also accessible to all, particularly those in older age groups or with lower incomes who are less likely to own smartphones or have internet access.