In the middle of a tough economy, many businesses are tightening their belts and trying to save money wherever possible. At the same time, many businesses and individuals are also trying to “go green” by reducing waste and recycling. One great way to reduce waste is to print fewer pages when possible, resulting in less paper and less toner usage, which also saves money. Here we will look at a few ways to save ink and paper.

1. Cut out unnecessary printing

This should be the first step for any business. Many large documents are printed, stored, archived, and eventually thrown away or recycled without anyone ever reading them or even looking at them. If your business needs to keep an archive of reports, spreadsheets and other documents that may not ever be seen by human eyes, consider implementing a system of digital documents for this purpose, such as storing these documents in PDF form on a backup hard drive. This also has the benefit of making the archive searchable and quickly accessible, which may not be the case with those cardboard boxes full of papers.

2. Draft mode

Virtually ever printer has a draft mode. Sometimes this is referred to as economy or eco-saver mode. In many cases, this can be enabled on the printer itself, and even set as the default. In other cases, this can be enabled in the operating system. For example, Windows can be set to default to draft mode, but this can be changed by the user when a print job requires higher quality. While there is some sacrifice in print quality, it is usually not very noticeable, and draft mode will usually be more than enough quality for interoffice memos and day-to-day printing.

3. Greenprint software

Have you ever printed a web page to read later or share with someone, only to find that it took 3 pages to print a one page article? Often, printing a web page includes banner ads, links, and other unnecessary items that all consume more ink. Companies like GreenPrint (www.printgreener.com) are trying to change that by offering software that will analyze print jobs and remove unnecessary items for you before printing. It is also customizable, so that you can include or remove elements of your choice.

In the middle of a tough economy, many businesses are tightening their belts and trying to save money wherever possible. At the same time, many businesses and individuals are also trying to “go green” by reducing waste and recycling. One great way to reduce waste is to print fewer pages when possible, resulting in less paper and less toner usage, which also saves money. Here we will look at a few ways to save ink and paper.

1. Cut out unnecessary printing

This should be the first step for any business. Many large documents are printed, stored, archived, and eventually thrown away or recycled without anyone ever reading them or even looking at them. If your business needs to keep an archive of reports, spreadsheets and other documents that may not ever be seen by human eyes, consider implementing a system of digital documents for this purpose, such as storing these documents in PDF form on a backup hard drive. This also has the benefit of making the archive searchable and quickly accessible, which may not be the case with those cardboard boxes full of papers.

2. Draft mode

Virtually ever printer has a draft mode. Sometimes this is referred to as economy or eco-saver mode. In many cases, this can be enabled on the printer itself, and even set as the default. In other cases, this can be enabled in the operating system. For example, Windows can be set to default to draft mode, but this can be changed by the user when a print job requires higher quality. While there is some sacrifice in print quality, it is usually not very noticeable, and draft mode will usually be more than enough quality for interoffice memos and day-to-day printing.

3. Greenprint software

Have you ever printed a web page to read later or share with someone, only to find that it took 3 pages to print a one page article? Often, printing a web page includes banner ads, links, and other unnecessary items that all consume more ink. Companies like GreenPrint (www.printgreener.com) are trying to change that by offering software that will analyze print jobs and remove unnecessary items for you before printing. It is also customizable, so that you can include or remove elements of your choice.