January 2010 -- While "going green" is a popular idea these days, it is something that USPTA has been working on for many years, thanks in large part to our use of technology.

Just a few years ago, going green meant planting trees, turning off lights when you weren't using them and recycling. Today, the concept is much broader, and there are many more things we can do to save resources and limit waste.

In the mid-1990s, USPTA started using e-mail. This action alone has saved many trees in the 15 years since we rolled out e-mail ­addresses for our World Headquarters and staff. It also increased the speed and efficiency of member service. So, instead of receiving and sending letters by mail, which uses paper, ink and postage, we answer most inquiries electronically, which is naturally faster than sending replies through the regular mail.

Since we introduced our Internet presence in 1995, we've worked to make many member services easier, and greener. According to your active participation, you like this option, and several statistics prove it.

• Approximately 95 percent of new members apply online, which means they don't request or mail in hard copy applications. This not only cuts paper use and printing costs, but cuts down on the amount of filing space required to store these records. We'll talk more about document management later.
• More than 52 percent of you prefer to register for and pay for World Conference attendance online. This speeds up our processing time and helps us plan the event each year.
• About 70 percent of you pay your dues online each year. This means you don't write a paper check or have to mail it in.
• We also work with HEAD to promote its online-only application procedure to participate in the USPTA/HEAD racquet program. This year marks the second year that HEAD's equipment contracts are done 100 percent online.

In the last decade, USPTA's Education Department has switched almost all of its communications to e-mail or Web-based forms. For example, it sends all of the forms, updates and deadlines electronically to World Conference speakers, who also return their correspondence the same way.

Our Membership Department conducts most of its business via e-mail and the Internet. It now e-mails study materials to each new applicant for certification, offers an online review course and practice tests through the Professional Tennis Coaches Academy I, sends testers their reports via e-mail and promotes reinstatements through electronic messages. These measures speed up the entire testing process.

Now, a new member tool, accessed through "My membership" in the members-only Web site, allows you to print membership documents from your home or office computer, including membership cards, membership certificates, education report cards, insurance verification letters and dues invoices. Each document is personalized, dated and includes a security verification code for your protection. Only members in good standing will be able to print documents that verify membership.

Probably the most amazing green project will be implemented in the coming year - a document management system. This huge "green" project will:

• Convert 1.5 million paper documents to electronic form, increasing security and saving costs in filing cabinet space and personnel effort.
• Reduce in-house printing requirements by 12,000 pages per month.
• Save electricity and toner.
• Enable USPTA to better serve our members by having these documents readily available on demand.

Our latest green effort also coincides with a new look for our online ADDvantage magazine. It will allow us to further reduce our use of paper and ink. We will begin printing only six issues of the magazine instead of the current 11. However, we'll increase our total issues by one with the production of 12 digital issues - six to coincide with our printed magazines and six digital-only issues to be released every other month. The first printed issue for 2010 will debut in January (with its online version), followed by a digital-only issue in February. We will also continue to use the latest technology to offer more video through the digital magazine and drills that you can print and use on court.

Other tennis companies have already adopted the trend of printing fewer hard copy magazines, including the popular Tennis magazine. It will cut its printed issues to eight this year and promote its digital version of the magazine complete with video.

Also beginning this year, USTA will begin a digital version of its USTA Magazine.

Going green for USPTA means providing you with efficient services and instant access to member benefits. The fact that we're saving trees and cutting waste is a great byproduct of our use of technology.

I hope you'll take advantage of the many services that technology places at your fingertips when it comes to membership management, online resources and more.