To print or not to print…reduce costs and carbon dioxide emissions
I often see many footnote signatures in emails which read ‘’don’t print unless you really have to’ or ‘please think about the environment before you print’.
There is a lot of information on websites which explain why saving trees is important –reduces the carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere and therefore helps with climate change and global warming.
Someone from the bank said to me they could not see how they could actually stop printing. For example, the Certificate of Deduction of Tax document is printed and posted to the customer. These have to be possibly kept for Self Assessment Tax Returns and for HM Revenue & Customs who want to see the original copy. Sending these in an email would not be wise, due to security! Mind you, internet communication is not really considered secure.
I met someone yesterday who prints photo’s, flyers, leaflets etc on paper. What to do if not everyone wants digital copies? It’s always about giving choices, as not everyone will want the same thing.
When I questioned someone on having a colour and black and white printer, I was told there was often a need to print documentation such as presentations in a professional way for customers.
Another company mentioned they have to print their course notes in a glossy and colour format because there is a business need to do so.
There are a number of Green IT Tips for printing which I recommend to people when I’ve carried out a Green IT assessment. Most as I keep saying are common sense, but explaining the ‘why’ is important. Calculating the energy costs when printing (paper cost, ink cartridges,toner and hours of printing, printer power,etc) will clearly prove how high this can be. It does depend on which printer you have also, and again, not everyone turns the printers off during non-work hours. Putting it into sleep-mode overnight is what some organisations appear to do.
Also, I keep a lot of old printed paper I have to write notes on. It’s also worth considering purchasing from shops who sell ‘green’ stationary. There are also printers which are ‘eco-friendly’, and have the Energy Star rating label, which means they are more efficient.
Printing less and doing so more efficiently will reduce costs (the electricity bill and also, it will help organisations with their business revenue no doubt!) and carbon emissions.
Incidentally, I would like to find out more from organisations who have a paperless office, as I am assuming the latter would be storing information efficiently elsewhere!
The following websites are worth looking at for more information….
www.fsc-uk.org/wp-content/plugins/downloads-manager/upload/FSCUK-FactSheet-paper.pdf
www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=can-trees-save-us-from-climate-chan-09-04-24
DATE: 05/08/2010
Tripta Prashar
www.givingtimeandsolutions.com
