The health of the environment is a pretty hot topic these days. Hybrid vehicles, biodegradable packaging and reusable grocery bags are just some of the ways society has been inundated by environmental friendly technologies.
It didn’t take long for companies to realize they need to reduce their carbon footprint, too. However, in today’s tight financial economy, it can be hard to adopt expensive albeit green technology. Luckily, designing and implementing a green printing strategy can help save the environment and save money.
A green printing strategy starts with the goal of reducing the carbon footprint of office printing by targeting paper usage and energy usage. When these areas are optimized, the combined environmental and economic impact is amazing.
1. Reduce Paper Usage
It take almost two thirds of a tree to create one case of paper and the production of a single ton of copy paper produces almost 6,000 pounds of greenhouse gases.
The average office employee consumes 2 cases of printer/copier paper each year. Therefore, a company with 100 office employees will consume 120 trees per year and releas over 28,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses just in their paper usage. With a case of paper costing over $30, the annual cost for this company would be $6,000 or $500 per month.
One simple strategy to reduce paper usage is to set your printers and copiers to default to duplex (two sided) printing. This easy step can reduce your paper usage by up to 50% and save over 60 trees per year. On top of saving the environment, reducing paper usage can save the company up to $3,000 per year.
2. Consolidate Printer and Copier Devices
Printers and copiers use a considerable amount of energy. The average office copier consumes 285 KWh of electricity each month while an average printer consumes 49 KWh. A company with 10 copiers and 50 printers requires electricity that takes approximately 46,500 pounds of coal. Burning this much coal emits 132,525 of greenhouse gasses each year and costs about $6,000.
Many companies are realizing that they can consolidate printer and copier devices with Energy Star certified multifunction systems. A smaller fleet of devices requires less energy to operate. Strategically placed multifunction systems that print, copy, fax and scan can easily lessen the energy requirements necessary and save big money. By decreasing energy usage, the amount of coal burned is greatly decreased.
Creating a green print strategy is a great way to save the environment and save money for any office.
Datamax Communications Department, on Nov 17, 2011 7:30:00 PM
