green printing

I never realized how much I took my printer for granted until I needed to print something in a hotel but didn’t have one. And I was not willing to pay USD $2 per page to print something. So I just decided to get a printer to solve my problem since I was going to be out of town for a while.

It's How You Print, Not What You Print

It’s Not What You Print, It’s How You Use Your Printer That Matters
So what printer I got or how I got it is not the point of this post. It’s the set up process that reminded me how I can help out the environment with a few easy habits when printing documents. You can use the same things I do to put in just a little conscious effort to help the world in a big way.

1. Printer Default Settings to Draft Quality
Set your printer to default to draft ink printing and black and white/gray scale. It’s as easy as going to your Start Menu -> Settings -> Printer and Faxes and choose your printer to change the properties. Most times you can’t even tell you are printing in draft black and white vs. Normal/Best print settings. From my experience, I usually only need best print quality when I’m sending a letter or printing some kind of marketing document. Most times all you need is the draft quality for lists, personal docs, faxes, etc. Ink is the most consuming thing you use when you use your printer, so default your printer to draft quality. It will make even a bigger difference if you are sharing your printer over the network where many others will save ink when printing through your printer.

2. Print to PDF
Next time you print something, think about if you really need to print it out. I know it’s a good habit to print out confirmation pages and receipts when you transact online. But ask yourself, do I really need a paper copy of this? How many times have you really used that printed confirmation page? My advice is to install this easy to use and free print-to-pdf driver from Bullzip. Instead of printing it to a going-to-be-wasted piece of paper, you can print it to a pdf file and save it on your computer for easier reference and retrieval. (Better than always thinking to yourself: “Where did I put that printout?”)

3. Use Scratch Paper
Now this should be an easy one. Since you’ve wasted the paper (or else it wouldn’t be called scratch) then you shouldn’t just throw it away. When you need to print something for yourself, just “X” out the used side and print on the blank side. This will save you paper and also cut your wasted paper. Most lists/reminders and household printouts can go on scratch paper. Scratch paper doesn’t have to be paper you wasted. It could be a huge printout/instruction manual that someone gave you that is no longer needed. Just remove the staples, fan out the edges and stick it in your printer paper tray and “Voila!” free paper!

Well, I made a conscious effort when setting up my new printer. I hope you can too by doing the same! A little conscious effort toward helping the environment goes a long way.