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There are many factors that can influence when and how fast mold grows on your stored or water damaged documents. If you live in a humid climate, moisture levels and seasonal weather will have a large impact on the rate of mold growth. Cooler climates, however, are not much better off. In general, documents that have come into contact with water recently – through a flood, hurricane or water leak, for example – can begin to grow mold within just 48 hours.

Perhaps your business or organization has suffered recent document damage – due to a fire, earthquake or flood, for example. Or maybe you have simply decided to back up and digitize hard copies of important documents for future safekeeping. In either case, one very important aspect of document restoration or scanning is security.

Thomas Counsell from the Institute for Manufacturing has stated that up to 2 percent of overall greenhouse gases are caused by paper consumption. The biggest fraction of energy used in paper consumption may be traced to the creation and disposal of printer paper. And although the move to iPads, smart phones and other mobile gadgets may seem to imply that paper consumption has fallen as digitalization has increased, the truth is exactly the opposite. Over the last ten years, paper consumption has risen steadily. If you worry about deforestation and rising carbon dioxide levels, you may be interested to learn about how document scanning and document imaging can help offset the environmental costs of printing documents.

Hurricanes: They are some of the most incredible, damaging storms on earth. These enormous oceanic tempests form over warm waters; whip themselves into a rainy, windy frenzy; and bash themselves over coastlines. (Because these storms are water-fueled, they cannot long survive land.) Lives are lost, homes are destroyed and many businesses fail following a major hurricane. One of the most common causes of post-hurricane business failure is the loss of flood damaged documents.

This may be a record-setting spring for high temperatures in North America. But let’s not forget that just a few years ago, we also saw record flooding and rainfall for many regions. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and even simple water leaks can cause serious damage to your company’s documents.