Have you heard of the middle school science fair project that made headlines last month claiming the U.S. government could save $400 million if it changed its typeface in its printed documents? Though print experts later pointed out some flaws in the study, 14-year-old Suvir Mirchandani's heart was in the right place. His objective was to save money and cut waste at his school.
At Pacific Office Automation, we believe in the triple bottom line: people, planet and profits. Here are a few small printing changes you can make to help your business lighten its carbon footprint:
- Utilize your printer's paper-saving features like double-sided printing, black-and-white print default settings, and print track and control features. These will automatically delete duplicate or abandoned print jobs and make sure text-only documents are not inadvertently sent to the color printer. You can even password-protect machines so that only approved users can print to ink-heavy laser printers.
- Use 100% recycled paper. Printing on recycled paper helps reduce the use of environmental sources such as water and energy and lowers air pollution.
- Find less harmful printing materials. Xerox, for instance, offers dry toners as an alternative to liquid inks. These toners are non-toxic and designed to reduce volatile organic compounds emissions. Hewlett-Packard and Canon can also operate on soybean-based toner powder.
- Edit documents digitally with custom workflow solutions. Share and edit documents over the network in PDF files. This allows users to track changes, access documents instantly, and save paper and ink on printing.
POA is proud to be one of the largest providers of office systems, workflow processes and data protection and security solutions for businesses and organizations in the Western region of the United States. If you are looking for ways for your office to go green and be more efficient, contact us today to get started!