Print Green at home - How to Make Your Printing Eco-Friendly

Introduction
There are many ways of ensuring your printing does not impact upon the environment. This article, written by the owner of Australia's leading green printing company, looks at what you can do to make your printing more eco-friendly - and save money at the same time.

Choosing a Green Printer
You may already own a printer, but if you are considering buying one there are some things you should look for to ensure it will be a green choice. A printer that can print duplex (both sides of the page) will reduce your paper consumption considerably.

Having a power saving mode will reduce energy usage when the printer is not in use, and comparing power consumption in 'On' and 'Standby' modes between different models can help you save energy and dollars over the life of the unit. Lastly, turn your printer off when you're not using it as it uses electricity when idling or in stand-by mode.

Choosing Eco-Friendly Paper
Your choice of paper makes a difference - there are many options out there but some are decidedly non eco-friendly. Choose 100% post-consumer recycled paper when you can, or if you require a specific look or feel, use certified FSC or PEFC paper to ensure it is sustainably sourced. Many papers are a mix of recycled and FSC/PEFC and this can be a good compromise between getting the look and feel you want with the eco credentials you need.

Paper bleaching is an important consideration as chlorine is often used as the bleaching agent and this has detrimental environmental impacts. Make sure that the paper you buy is free of chlorine bleached fibre - choose paper with Process Chlorine Free (PCF), Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) or Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) certification.

You can also reduce your paper consumption in a number of ways. Firstly, consider whether you really need to print something, or if you need to print every page. Set your printer to print on both sides if possible. If it can't do that automatically, you can do it manually by choosing 'manual duplex' in the printer settings, printing the odd pages first then flipping them over to print the even pages. You may also be able to bring stacks of printed paper home from your office and print on the reverse side for non-important documents - that's real recycling!

Green Ink and Toner Options
When your printer runs out of ink or toner, the easy option is to throw out the old cartridge and replace it with a new one. This not only contributes to landfill and consumes resources, but it's expensive! There are now options available for refilling cartridges, with kits for doing it at home or you can have a local supplier do it for you. Another service is cartridge exchange - hand in your old one and get a refilled one for much cheaper than buying new. Many charities now accept used cartridges and you're helping them raise money by donating your cartridges to them for refilling or recycling.

You can reduce the amount of ink you use too. One way is by adjusting your printer settings to reduce the amount of ink applied - use a setting like 'Draft' or similar when high quality printing is not required. When printing pages from the internet, make sure you use the 'print friendly version' if there is one. Avoid printing large images that aren't needed, and consider using one of the many 'green printing' software tools available online to help you print web pages without wasting ink or paper (Google 'green printing software' to get started). For the seriously committed eco-printer, there are even 'eco friendly fonts' available now that are designed to print with less ink!

Conclusion
Printing at home can become more economical and environmentally friendly by following these simple tips. By reducing your paper and ink usage and choosing the right products, you can make a real difference every time you click the 'print' button.