Saving trees with Larry

So it seems that His Nibs Larry "Potatoes" O'Brien has concocted a new crackpot scheme, ummmm, visionary idea to try and make up the potential loss of that pesky, $2 billion Siemens AG lawsuit, hanging there since he led the charge to scotch Ottawa's original light rail project.

This one involves making city council meetings paperless, which if my pointy ears didn't mislead me on this morning's newscast, hizzoner estimates will save $150,000 and a couple-hundred-odd trees a year. Wonder where those certified-accurate figures might've come from? I digress. Again. Never mind. Now, our very own Woodsy and her tree fairy friends are safe. Our mayor is so green... and technology is always good. In the incomprehensible words of business geeks everywhere, it's a win-win-win!

Or is it? I really hate to rain on the parade of progress, but according to CBC,

"The paper documents would need to be replaced by computers and other equipment that was expected to cost around $150,000. However, O'Brien estimated the cost would be recovered within three years from savings in printing costs."

Right, then. But, uhhhh, Larry: any LAN administrator worth his/her Algonquin College certificate will tell you that computers are full of toxic stuff. And they become obsolete and need scrapping and replacing how often ...?