August 29, 2024
First off, thanks for your interest in this important topic! The world needs a lot more people like you, because sustainable printing still isn’t getting the attention it deserves. It’s not like tech folks haven’t tried. With each advancement in digital technology, there are high hopes that paper consumption worldwide will decrease. But apart from a brief dip during the height of the pandemic, it seems that no digital tool can curb our appetite.
But don’t lose hope! There are a lot of relatively simple ways that businesses can adopt more sustainable printing habits. So if you’re looking to meet a green initiative, or you’d just like to help your business cut printing costs, read on!
The Environmental Impact of Business Printing: Key Stats
Need to get others on board with why this topic is so important? These statistics should help:
- Worldwide paper consumption has increased by 400% in the last 40 years
- A typical American office worker blows through 10,000 sheets of paper per year
- 45% of print jobs are discarded at the end of the day
- Roughly 1 billion trees worth of paper are discarded in the United States every year
Eco-Friendly Printing Tips for Businesses
Implementing even just a few of these environmentally friendly printing practices can go a long way over the course of a single year. So it’s okay to start small and work your way up to implementing all 10!
1. Choose Sustainable Paper Alternatives for Your Office
Office paper tends to look the same, except for the packaging. But don’t get fooled into thinking that any cost differences are due to marketing. High-quality paper can make a huge difference in the lifespan and maintenance needs of your printing equipment. High-quality paper costs more to make, but you’ll notice the difference in the number of paper jams your office experiences right away.
If possible, use high-quality paper that is also at least one of these:
- Made from recycled paper
- FSC-certified, which means it’s sourced from responsibly managed forests
- Made from alternative fibers (tree-free)
- Chlorine-free
- High-yield, meaning its manufacturing process extracts more paper from the same amount of wood
2. Work Default Settings to Your Advantage
Switch the default print settings to double-sided printing to instantly cut down on the amount of paper used, even if your teams print the same number of documents. When single-sided printing is needed, it’s a simple adjustment to make.
3. Choose a Sustainable Partner
When selecting a managed print service and copier/printer manufacturer, prioritize vendors with strong sustainability practices. By partnering with eco-conscious providers, you can significantly amplify your positive environmental impact.
4. Use Existing Ink and Toner More Responsibly
But even if your current equipment doesn’t allow you to use more environmentally friendly ink or toner, you can still do a lot of good by changing a few printing habits:
- Print in draft mode when producing internal documents
- Use thinner, ink-saving fonts
- Change your default print settings to black and white
5. Preview Before Printing
It’s so easy to hit that print button, but if we’re being honest, all of us have done it prematurely, only to find obvious errors immediately afterward. Encourage your staff to give documents a once-over and print a preview to catch formatting problems before they initiate a print job. For more complex printed materials, you might want to investigate digital proofing tools to simulate color-accurate print results.
6. Research Digital Alternatives to Paper Printing
Enterprise content management (ECM) platforms — also commonly referred to as document management systems — make it very easy to eliminate a lot of paper-based processes, like getting signatures on contracts and approving invoices, while also saving time and reducing human errors.
And while migrating to the cloud often requires advanced IT skills, cloud storage can free up space and empower remote and hybrid work.
7. Implement Print Management Software for Sustainability
There are multiple types of print management software, but depending on the type you choose, you can use it to get insight into wasteful printing habits and make sure print policies are being followed across all departments.
8. Educate and Engage Employees About Eco-Conscious Printing Strategies
We are creatures of habit, and many of your employees probably print a page here or there without really thinking through whether they actually need to. A wasted sheet of paper here or there doesn’t really seem like much, but over the course of a year, it can really add up.
At Marco, we’ve found that most staff members will be receptive to changing their habits when they understand the good that can come from it. You can also incentivize sustainable behavior, which will be easier to do if you can assess the printing behavior of every employee in every department with print management software.
9. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in Office Printing
You’re already recycling your ink and toner cartridges, right? If not, every top manufacturer makes this fairly easy to do, and many big box stores will also provide this service for free. In addition to reducing paper consumption, recycling used paper, and choosing recycled paper products, some manufacturers take sustainability further.
Watch this video to see how HP makes it easy to do the right thing!
10. Look Into Energy-Efficient Printer Models for Your Company
If your printer is over five years old, its best days are behind it. If you’d like to help your company become more sustainable, that’s just one more great reason (besides security concerns, rising maintenance costs, and energy efficiency) to upgrade your equipment! Just be sure to dispose of your old equipment safely and responsibly.
While no single printer or brand is the best printer for every business, there is a reason we name-dropped HP. HP printers are known for their reliability, security features, and cost-effectiveness over time, which is why we formed a strategic partnership with them years ago.
A number of HP’s equipment are made with recycled materials and ocean-bound plastics, and its toner and ink cartridges are part of a closed-loop recycling process, where almost every part is either recycled or reused; nothing goes to a landfill.
Choosing the best printer for your business isn’t an easy task, but we do have an online quiz that can help narrow it down. Oh … and if you find one that you like, be sure to let us know, so we can help you get the very best deal on it! 
