If you make coffee at home or at the office use a "home-sized" coffee maker, you should consider using a gold tone coffee filter (picture below) instead of paper filters as they offer several advantages:

1 - They result in better tasting coffee. Paper filters are so fine that the oil from the coffee can't make it through the filter. When you use a gold tone filter, the oils can make it through. Everyone I know who has tried coffee from a gold tone filter agrees, the coffee taste better.

2 - More importantly is the waste reduction issue. Paper filter are used once and thrown away. A gold tone filter is intended to be washed between uses, and it should last for years. Aside from the coffee grounds themselves (which can be used in compost and gardens), there is no waste when using a gold tone filter.

Some folks may worry about the cost. But in the long run, I think a gold tone filter is cheaper. You can get a good one for $10. If you are a daily coffee drinker, this is a pretty small expense, and if you look at the cost of all those paper filters over the course of several years, you are going to be spending that much on filters anyways.

A gold tone coffee filter