是時候紙質(zhì)收據(jù)要退出舞臺了

When stores first started to ask if customers wanted a paper receipt or an emailed receipt, I always took the email option. I knew I was giving up a little privacy when I did because the store now had my email. The stores that offered it were typically clothing stores, and I appreciated that I could always get the receipt if I needed to make a return or an exchange.

每當?shù)赇佋儐栴櫩褪窍胍堎|(zhì)收據(jù)還是電子收據(jù)時，我總會選后者。我知道當我這樣做的時候會放棄一點兒隱私，因為店鋪會知道我的email。一般提供收據(jù)的店鋪都是服裝店，如果我需要換退衣服，都會有收據(jù)，這點我還蠻喜歡。

Then in 2014, one of my local grocery stores, Shoprite, sent me an email saying it would be offering digital receipts. It's a free program that allowed me to "print, search and categorize" my receipts. At the time, the program was still in the testing phase, so I still received paper receipts at the register, but it was a start.

2014年的時候，我光顧過的一家食品店叫Shoprite，給我發(fā)來的郵件稱它會提供電子收據(jù)。這個免費程序可以讓我輕松“打印、搜尋、歸類”我的收據(jù)。在那時，該程序還處于測試階段，所以我還是在登記處收取紙質(zhì)收據(jù)，但至少這是開始。

Now years later, digital receipts are increasingly common at a lot of different businesses — and that's a good thing.

幾年過去了，電子收據(jù)在不同商業(yè)領域也越來越常見，這是好事兒。

Why it's time to retire paper receipts

是時候紙質(zhì)收據(jù)要退出舞臺了

Digital receipts offer a few improvements over traditional paper receipts. One is health-related. Lots of receipt paper contains bisphenol-A, or BPA. This chemical can potentially influence or outright alter some bodily processes, like hair growth, hormone function and cell repair. Reducing receipt paper reduces the risk for BPA exposure for not only consumers but also for employees who handle the paper on a more routine basis.

電子收據(jù)對傳統(tǒng)紙質(zhì)收據(jù)來說有很多改善提升。其中之一就是健康問題。大多數(shù)紙質(zhì)收據(jù)含有酚甲烷，也稱BPA。這種化學成分可以潛在影響或直接改變身體進程，比如頭發(fā)生長、激素運轉(zhuǎn)還有細胞修復。減少紙質(zhì)收據(jù)不僅降低了顧客接觸BPA的風險，也降低了大多時候拿著紙質(zhì)收據(jù)的店家接觸BPA的風險。

The second improvement is environmental. Receipt paper consumes a lot of trees, some 10 million of them a year, according to Green America. (And at least half of that is probably used by CVS for their still-too-long receipts.) They also use up about 21 billion gallons of water a year — and these stats are just for the United States! That's so many trees and so much water, all when emailing the receipt is a lot easier. Pile on the fact that BPA-coated paper can't be recycled and you end up with a bunch of receipts in landfills.

第二個改善的就是環(huán)境問題。紙質(zhì)收據(jù)消耗很多樹木，一年約消耗1000萬棵(至少一半可能都是便利商店那長長的收據(jù)單消耗的)。它們在一年中也用了約21億加侖水，而且這些都還只是美國用的!和方便的電子收據(jù)比那真的是很多樹木和水資源了。再加上含BPA的紙不可回收，所以最后都垃圾填埋了。

The third improvement has to do with economics. Receipt paper costs businesses money, between $5,475 to $18,250 per year if they're printing 1,000 receipts a day. That's a lot of receipts, a lot of paper and a lot of water. It's also a lot of money, money that could be used elsewhere, say giving employees raises or covering health insurance or lowering prices.

第三個改善和經(jīng)濟有關。如果每天打印1000份收據(jù)，這些收據(jù)紙將每年花費企業(yè)5475到18250美刀。這可真是很多收據(jù)，很多紙，很多水資源。同時也是很多錢，這些錢都可以用在別的地方，比如漲工資、覆蓋健康保險，還比如降低物價。

The fourth reason digital receipts are better just boils down to convenience. You can access those receipts through your email and archive them in a separate folder or with a specific label for easy sorting. Or, if you need more help on the organization front, try a receipt tracking app. Physical receipts require you to physically keep track of them, and that means a shoe box or an accordion folder or a big thumb tack on a cork board in the kitchen. There have been times when I've let something go unreturned because I didn't have the receipt. I'm betting I'm not alone on that.

第四個電子收據(jù)更好的理由就是它很方便。你可以從郵件中獲取收據(jù)放在單獨文件夾中，或者附上簡單分類的具體標簽。要是你在組織方面需要更多幫助，還可以下個收據(jù)記錄APP。實體收據(jù)單需要你好好保存好它們，要么放鞋盒子里，要么就廚房一軟木板上大圖釘釘著。有時候因為有些東西沒收據(jù)所以就沒辦法退，我敢打賭我不是一個人。

Returns aren’t the only convenience digital receipts offer, though. For tax purposes, if every purchase I made at a brick and mortar store gave me a digital receipt, it would be wonderful. If I received a digital receipt every time I bought office supplies or picked up a prescription or paid for a restaurant meal I can write off as a business expense, my life would be so much easier when I did my taxes.

電子收據(jù)不止能退換東西這么方便。從收稅這個角度看，如果我每買一磚一瓦，店鋪給我電子收據(jù)，這就真的太完美了!如果每次買辦公用品、買藥或付餐費時都能收到電子收據(jù)，那我就可以記成工作開銷，交稅時我的生活也會因此更方便。

Some businesses, particularly local ones, use newer point of sale systems like Square that will automatically send you a digital receipt if you've already received one from another business that uses Square. When you pay with the same credit or debit card you did at the first vendor, and you've already provided an email address to the Square system, you'll automatically get a receipt in your email minutes later. This can be a little unnerving, but it's easy to stop the automatic flow of receipts if you want.

一些企業(yè)，尤其是當?shù)仄髽I(yè)會用更新的銷售系統(tǒng)比如Square，如果你曾收到過其它用Square的企業(yè)發(fā)來的收據(jù)，它就可以自動發(fā)送電子收據(jù)給你。當你用同一張信用卡或借記卡向第一家商鋪付賬時，你就已經(jīng)向Square系統(tǒng)提供了自己的email，幾分鐘后就能收到電子收據(jù)。這可能有點兒煩人，但如果你想的話，關閉自動收取收據(jù)信息流也很簡單。

Then again, why would you want to do that? Or maybe you just enjoy having random slips of paper everywhere.

那問題就來了，為啥想關閉呢?難道你可能只是享受紙張胡亂散落在每個地方的快感?