Reduce the cost and environmental impact of office printers

Right after reading about the vast number of trees (pages of paper) we consume in offices (See my post of Oct. 7, 2010: 8,333 pages per tree.), I read with fascination about some innovative techniques to preserve ink and save the environment. For example, simply using thinner-lined typeface such as Century Gothic requires less toner or ink to form characters than the Microsoft Outlook default of Arial (which I am using!). As explained in the Economist, Sept. 4, 2010 at 9, some fonts these days even punch tiny holes in the letters to reduce ink up to 25 percent. Software can make the fonts look perfect onscreen but revert to Swiss cheese during printing.

A low-tech save covers the tiny window in toner cartridges with a piece of tape so that the optical sensor thinks the cartridge is full. Wait for streaks to appear on your printed pages. Duplex printing also has its advocates. The final idea from the article is very simple: in your signature line on e-mail ask recipients to “Consider the environment before printing this e-mail” (See my post of July 7, 2009: printing and printers with 6 references.).