Double checking your printer settings to prevent common office waste.
If you had a chance to read my previous blog about “Stumbling into Sustainability” you have learned that I am incredibly fallible, though well-meaning (I hope). And I am here to relay another one of my hard lessons to learn: double check the printer settings and really review any print previews, like REALLY review. How many times have we sent something off to the printer and printed way more pages than we thought? Or how many times have we printed more pages then we should or even need? Oops for printing 150 sheets of paper for the 5 pages I actually needed. How many times do we forget to adjust our page settings so our print parameters are limited to one paper print per actual page? I am the worst offender of printing too many pieces of paper for one sheet when it comes to spreadsheets.
I had a presentation that I was excited to share, to make sure everyone had a copy. I had the instructor email me the presentation, I opened the PDF file and hit print. I did not stop to check the number of pages, 54. I also did not stop to check the print layout and page setting to make sure each page was only one page. Turns out, each page had text overrun and the actual print job would be 108 pages…for each copy I was printing. And I was printing two! Yes, I decided on my first day of work to accidentally attempt to print 216 pages of what can easily be an e-file. Let me remind you (in case you missed the first blog) I work at a SUSTAINABILITY non-profit. The level of embarrassment was high. Luckily, someone caught the printer working overtime and called me down so we could cancel the print job.
As I am sure you have learned, it’s not always just for yourself that you need to check the printer. How often have you gone to pick up a print job from a community printer and found that it was printed on color paper? Or GASP on sticker labels or card stock? Waste can come in many forms and usually we have to learn from experience. Communication is a great way to cut down on excessive waste. If there is printing of specialty jobs, let the office know so regular print jobs aren’t sent something through while the printer is utilizing special supplies. If a special paper source was needed for a print job, remember to remove all specialty materials when finished and communicate to the team that printing done and all specialty materials have been removed from the printer.
According to the EPA, an average office administrative employee creates around two pounds of paper and paperboard waste every day and roughly 10,000 sheets of copy paper annually. It is estimated that 10-35% of total pages printed are left at the printer and never picked up. One way to improve this is by locking the printer until the document is released by the initiator. This means each person has a pin associated with their prints, and while the printer will hold the document, it will not actually print until the owner of the print job goes to the printer and enters their personal pin to release the print job.
The good news is, I have learned my lesson (for now). I took the file home, converted it to Power Point, changed it to the notes format (3 slides per page), double checked that the formatting was one page wide (not two) AND I printed two sided, and now my 218 page print job was 36 pages (still not ideal, but significantly better). And I added the original print error to a scratch paper stack, great for meeting notes that you may need to jot down and then (as those pages were utilized) the paper became both recycling and fire starter…hey, I live in a very cold climate and adore the warmth of a fire to heat my house while cutting my gas bill during winter.
Cutting down on office waste is about so much more than print jobs. Knowing what can be recycled/repurposed to help with office waste (both home and work) is an important step in improving your sustainability and waste management practices. For example, did you know anything smaller than a post-it, is incredibly difficult to actually recycle? Because of the small size, these items fall out of the machines designed to process recyclables. And print waste isn’t just limited to paper! Ink cartridges can typically be recycled by their distributor. They are refilled and resold, which often leads to a lower price for the consumer. Doing good and saving money; it’s a win/win.
“But wait, there’s more.” What about those pesky printers? They are typically large and bulky and at some point, they will break down and need to be replaced. There are ways to properly dispose of these items that do not include throwing them in everyday trash. Why shouldn’t I just throw it in the trash? It’s easy, it’s convenient…Yes, but. Ah, the dreaded yes, but. Throwing a printer in regular trash can pollute soil and water with hazardous materials like lead, mercury, and flame retardants, which can cause contamination if not recycled properly.
Hopefully this has opened eyes to an area that can be improved on or even just a way to start a discussion about change. Did you think of an amazing “hack” that you can do in the office or even at home? Maybe there is other small equipment that could be disposed of in a different manner than the current status quo. Maybe there’s a way to get one or EVEN TWO other uses out of paper rather than just trashing it. We can all do a little better and help each other be a little better.
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