Discover Ways to Go Green Printing

Printing smart can save money on paper, ink, toner and maintenance costs. Some ways to print smart are explained below. As far as possible conserve paper. Before printing think twice is it necessary to print that document. If you think that the particular document will be outdated within a few days and you will not read it, then there are other ways to show the document without printing. You can make a power point presentation of the document or share the location as to where the file is or send a copy of the document at the end of the meeting through email. There is another way to save paper; you can print multiple pages into a single sheet. You can make a rule in the office that documents should be printed on both the front and back of paper. 

Try to print on recycled paper containing a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste. Always use chlorine free paper while printing. Instead of petroleum based inks use soy or vegetable based inks for offset printing. Petroleum based inks contain carcinogens which can lead to cancer. Avoid usage of metallic or fluorescent inks as these inks contain certain harmful elements like heavy metals, barium, copper and zinc. On brochures, flyers or other printed pieces, press varnish or film lamination is used, but bio-degradable, varnish are considered best in the long run. Request online proofing of files whenever possible. Deliver your materials to the printer electronically via FTP sites or email.

You can instruct recipients that the printed paper can be recycled or teach them how to recycle it when they are done with it. In many venues there are recycling containers throughout the meeting facility. This is a very visible demonstration of your greening efforts.

While designing your printed materials, use eco-friendly design elements. While printing any document use standard paper sizes. Ink bleeding can lead to paper wastage as larger sheet sizes are needed to produce the bleed effect. Another option is to make these pieces smaller in the first place. Minimize ink usage can save press time, paper and money. If you work with designers and printers you can get environmental friendly design.

You should optimize your print layout. Always use Eco font or Ever Green font that can save up to 15% of the ink consumption. Make sure you buy laser toner cartridges or inkjet ink cartridges that are made out of recycled materials or start refilling the old ones yourself. Printer cartridges that are built on recycled materials are most often labeled as remanufactured. If you install a Follow-Me-Printing solution employees have to be physically present at the printer to get printouts. Return your empty printer cartridges back to the loop by sending them to a cartridge recycler.