Increase Printing Efficiency for a Better Environment

A lot of office-based businesses are printing in excess of their needs. This is a waste of paper, a waste of printing resources including toner, a waste of energy, a waste of money, and it’s harmful to the environment.

 

In this blog post, we will take a look at how inefficient printing harms the environment and suggest ways to improve your office’s printing efficiency.

 

Printing and the Environment

The impact that printing has on the environment may not even cross most people’s mind, but printing poses a triple threat to the environment.

 

First, there is the issue of the paper itself. We waste a staggering amount of paper each year, with an estimated 10,000 sheets per an office worker per year being used. A lot of these sheets don’t really need to be printed, but function as convenience rather than necessity. When considering one A4 sheet requires around 5 litres of water to make, wasting paper has a colossal impact on the environment.

 

Secondly, printer cartridges contain chemicals that are damaging to the environment. Aside from these chemicals, a lot of toner cartridges are manufactured using non-biodegradable plastics as well. Even though this practice is being improved, a lot of cartridges still get disposed of along with chemical residue that can contaminate soil and water.

 

Finally, a lot of offices will leave their printer turned on at all times. This naturally uses a lot of unnecessary energy. It is also important that you seek correct methods of disposing of your old office printers to avoid them being lumped in with regular waste.

 

What Can Your Business Do To Help?

There are a lot of things that a business can do to help improve their environmental friendliness when it comes to their printing efficiency. They can tackle the above issues by trying to make their office as electronic based as possible, and avoiding unnecessary printing, as well as recycling paper and making  a scrap paper tray so employees can scribble their notes and reminders onto already used sheets. They can also look to buy office equipment that’s manufactured with environmental friendliness in mind where possible.

 

A business can also look to make sure that they’re printing is as efficient as possible, perhaps through the use of a print management system. One of the selling points of print software solutions, like Papercut, is that it can reduce usage and change a user’s printing behaviour. It does this through enforcing printing rules and accurately identifying associated costs – which can help employees to learn better habits.

 

Offices should look into the office printers and photocopiers they use and seek out alternatives that are better for the environment, which will also help save the business money in the long term. We stock a wide-selection of products that can help your business increase its printing efficiency.

 

To find out more about any of our products and services, get in touch with the team today – or give us a call on 01233 633366.

 

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