Whether at home or the office, it’s impossible to avoid printing in some situations. However, the use of a printer can have some severe costs to the environment. These costs involve paper production, the use of ink, and the energy required to power a printer.
This is a crucial time to reduce how we print, especially since printing is not the only practice threatening the ecological balance of the environment if you are a teacher that must print, get one of these small color printers and read below the other things that can be done.
Buying Only Green Ink
Certain inks have a better impact on the environment than the rest. Furthermore, using these inks shows that you and your firm care about the environment. Since the traditional ink is harsh to the environment, the best thing is to use organic-based inks sourced from renewable raw materials.
A common way of assessing the environmental practices of an ink manufacturer is to check their ISO certification. This certification is evidence of their commitment to managing their environmental impact internally and externally. So with this new information, you can easily recognize an eco-friendly ink supplier. One of the eco-friendly ink manufacturers is Needham Inks.
This tip presents an easy but effective way of lessening your impact on the environment.
Paperless Practices
To an extent, this has been adopted by many schools. However, it is still challenging to completely stop printing on paper. A more feasible alternative is to reduce printing thanks to technological advancements. We can achieve this with the help of a variety of paperless options.
Many applications and websites are now doing what people previously did on paper. For example, record keeping has gone digital. Every device, from a PC to a smartphone, has a note application that you can use to take notes digitally by simply typing the information you want to store on your screen. A popular app for this is Google Notes.
Instead of printing or photocopying an already printed material, scanning such documents with your device will be more prudent to save on paper.
Living paperless could change your life. In this video, Dominic Stühler will talk about how this could be possible:
Printing on Both Sides of the Paper and Font Choice
Choosing font cuts can save printing costs and ink. This is a simple but ingenious way to reduce paper consumption if you must print. Instead of printing with a page blank, you can print on both sides. This way, you have already reduced your paper demand by 50%. Imagine the amount of paper saved with this simple tip. Now multiply that statistic when enforcing that printing policy on your staff and students. It will equal a huge amount of paper saved and a significantly friendly gesture to the ecosystem.
Every computer system and printer produced within the last five years should have this option available in their printing menu. To ensure compliance from your workers, showing them how to select these printing options is an excellent way to start.
Utilize the Print Preview Option and Proofread your Document Thoroughly
This is another basic and easy tip to reduce paper usage when printing. It should be done before activating the printer. It’s common to see people go ahead to print documents without previewing them.
So to avoid printing something, only to later discover a significant typo, error in structure, or any form of mistake. This way, you can look at what your document will look like when printed.
It’s common to ignore or neglect the print preview option before printing your documents. However, it’s also common to use the print preview option for a cursory look without properly proofreading your document and checking if it will be printed on both sides of the paper.
Taking a hurried look at your document when you use the print preview option may likely lead you to reprint every time you correct an error. Unfortunately, that equals increased use of paper.