Today’s business world is more connected than ever. Businesses are operating in a fast-paced digital age, which means efficient and effective production of documents is key to staying ahead of the competition. In fact, it’s been estimated that document printing makes up approximately 20% of office printer use. If this is true, then it means that organizations have an opportunity to increase their efficiency while decreasing their environmental footprint through sustainable printing practices. With that being said, there are many ways that your organization can utilize sustainable printing practices in your office. Here are 5 tips to improve sustainable printing in your office today.

Change Your Printing Behaviour

The first step in improving sustainable printing in your office is changing your printing behavior. This means that you must be mindful of the documents that you print and the quantity of each. When it comes to printing documents, consider whether you truly need a physical copy. In many cases, you can utilize electronic copies instead, which can be accessed from anywhere, whenever the need arises. This can help to reduce the number of paper copies you print, ultimately decreasing the amount of paper that goes into your office printer. You can also be mindful of the number of copies that you print. This may sound silly, but a lot of companies will print 5 or 10 copies of a single document. This type of printing is completely unnecessary, as you can easily make as many copies as you need with a single print job.

Print On Both Sides

One simple way to increase your paper efficiency is by printing on both sides. This means that when you need to print a document to paper, you only print the front side of the page. Once you have finished with the first side, you then flip the page over and print the back side. This technique is great for two reasons. First off, it allows you to double the number of pages that you get from a single ream of paper. Secondly, this can help you reduce the amount of paper that you go through in your office. This is because you’re using less paper per page, which can result in less paper being sent to your office printer.

Utilize Electronic Documents Instead of Printed Copies

As mentioned above, another great way to reduce the amount of paper that you’re printing is by utilizing electronic documents instead of printed copies. One example of this is by converting your paper contract to a digital version instead of printing physical copies of the contract and storing it in a physical file cabinet. Another example would be converting your paper meeting minutes to an electronic version that can be sent to all participants. Not only does this save time when sharing meeting information, but it also saves paper, which ultimately reduces the amount of paper that goes into your office printer. If your organization is still using paper for critical documents, like your customer database, it could be a good idea to switch to a digital alternative. This will help to reduce the amount of paper that needs to be printed, and it will also help to protect your customers’ privacy from hackers.

Utilize Environmentally Friendly Toner And Ink

Another way to reduce the amount of paper that goes into your office printer is to utilize environmentally friendly toner and ink. When purchasing new toner and ink for your office printers, make sure to choose environmentally friendly options that can help to reduce your organization’s carbon footprint. Some eco-friendly toners and inks are made with recycled materials, which can help you reduce the amount of paper waste that is sent to landfills on a daily basis. Other environmentally friendly toners and inks may be designed to produce less carbon dioxide, which can help to reduce your carbon footprint even more.

Use Eco-Friendly Practices During Print Runs

Another way to reduce the amount of paper and toner going into your office printer is by using eco-friendly practices during print runs. Some ways to do this include setting your default print settings to black and white instead of color, which can help to reduce the amount of toner that goes into your printer. You can also utilize duplex printing, which means that your documents will be printed on both sides of the page. One final thing that you can do is to change your paper source. This means that you should consider switching the tray that your paper is located in. Most offices have a paper tray designated for printing and a paper tray designated for scanning. If you still have paper in the tray for printing, consider switching it out for the scanner tray. This can help you to reduce the amount of paper that goes through your printer.

Conclusion

Sustainable printing is away of printing that reduces the impact on the environment by using eco-friendly methods, such as using less paper, toner, and ink, and using digital copies instead of paper copies. Sustainable printing is less wasteful than traditional printing, and it helps organizations to be more efficient by printing only the necessary pages and storing digital documents instead of paper documents. In order to improve sustainable printing in your office, you must change your printing behavior, print on both sides, utilize environmentally friendly toner and ink, and use eco-friendly practices during print runs so that your organization can be more efficient while decreasing its environmental footprint.