When it comes to the environment, your printers can cause all kinds of waste. If you want to reduce your company’s carbon footprint, start by reviewing what and how you print.
Here are 11 eco-friendly printing tips to save energy and resources:
- Buy lightweight (e.g. 20lb) recycled paper to handle the majority of your printing needs; look for high recycled content of up to 100% post-consumer content
- Get a spare tray for “better” paper to be used only when needed
- Default your printers to print on both sides (front and back)
- Don’t print if you can read it at your computer
- Scan documents into the computer to create digital copies instead of paper copies
- Recycle all “used” paper
- Buy and recycle ink and toner cartridges
- Better yet, use printers like those from Xerox, that use non-toxic solid ink and have almost no packaging waste
- Keep your printers well-maintained so staff don’t send duplicate print jobs by accident
- Make sure your printers are Energy-Star certified and set to maximize energy-saving options
- Use a tool like GreenPrint to eliminate printing unnecessary pages like that last page of a website that has little more than the copyright notice, or the end of a Word doc where you get a header and footer with nothing in between
Even a few of these tips will make an impact. Start now and make a difference.
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thank you for writing about our environment. so many people don’t see the importance, thankful i have found another way that i have gone green recently is going to http://www.caryprinting.com. this goes along with your whole printing green thing. they are certified by the pefc and some other “green” organizations. i have loved their prints for my business. so just reccomending that, thanks for caring!