Printing (photocopying)

Yesterday I was reminded of photocopying because I did visit Staples to complete photocopying for two projects:  Music Alive and the Piaf / Dietrich show.  This activity brought back memories of my teaching career.  Photocopying was very important to me - it was a daily routine for me.  I would see and meet many of colleagues at the print-room.  The copiers would not work on many occasions.  I would sometimes witness total frustration, as teams of teachers would battle with copiers, as they struggled to get them up and working again.
There were copiers in other locations of the school, but the print room provided the biggest and fastest-working machines, in my opinion.  Every new year, we would notice new copiers in the print room, probably because these machines would be exhausted by June, and needed replacement.
At school Department Head meetings, budgets would of course be an agenda item for discussion, and the school Principal would inform us that printing costs are increasing and costing the school a great deal.  Also, please expect a paper shortage!  Often, I would witness some teachers arriving at the print room with their own supply of paper.
I wonder sometimes about the health risks involved with photocopying.  I would sometimes visit the print room 5-6 times daily.  Near the end of my teaching career, I would often print much of my handouts late in the afternoon, to avoid the morning rush and the daily traffic jams in the print room.
As organized as I was, there would often be those days that required a rush printing, needed as quickly as possible.  I suppose my body feels better since I am not exposed to photocopy machines as much as I did in my teaching career.  I did a lot of photocopying.  I would use “goose” paper as well to save paper.  Many of my colleagues did a better job of using the available technology, and therefore, would use less paper.  I’m old school.  I like the hard copy paper.  In the early years of teaching, a PIN number did not exist, so keeping track was not an issue.  I cannot remember how long a PIN number was used.  I do recall some teachers using other teacher’s PIN numbers!  Some teachers freely shared their PIN numbers, and some teachers managed to figure-out another PIN number that worked.  Some teachers would forget to log-off after completing a print job, and the teacher next in line, because they were in a rush would simple continue to print.
Supposedly, we should be using less paper today, but I think many people still believe in the importance of having a hard copy of material, probably for legal reasons; or perhaps, in case the computer does crash and you lose all your files of information.  Back-up hard copies can be useful, in case of an emergency need - right?  However, organizing paper does take longer than keeping files on a computer storage USB or hard drive.
Even with all this technology, and more new future ways to keep information, I guess printing will continue for a few more years - right?