Most people would agree that environmental sustainability and the future of the earth is important. However, it can be hard to maintain an ongoing approach to sustainability. Especially when sustainability measures cost more than the unsustainable alternatives, it’s tempting for businesses to default to non-sustainable measures.
Even for businesses that are committed to sustainability, it needs to be about more than just getting a green logo or certification, or paying lip service to environmental practices.
Printing, by definition, requires resources that aren’t traditionally environmentally-friendly.
Despite many business owners’ best intentions, the paperless office never really eventuated. While we’ve certainly reduced the amount of paper we use in the workplace, printing remains an unavoidable part of doing business.
If you’re looking to minimise your environmental impact, you may worry about the cost of printing from energy usage to paper and ink usage. Sustainable printing and paper is possible.
How to achieve sustainable printing There are three key steps you can take to achieve sustainable printing:
Recycled paper versus virgin paper
100 per cent recycled paper uses zero trees, 33 per cent less energy, releases 37 per cent less greenhouse gases, almost halves the amount of wastewater involved in the process, and uses 39 per cent less solid waste. 1 So it’s the right choice for a business that wants to be environmentally smart.
In the old days, you could pick recycled paper from virgin paper based on quality alone. However, the quality has improved markedly and, now, it’s hard to tell the difference between recycled and non- recycled paper.
Recycled paper should be at least 30 per cent recycled but 100 per cent recycled paper is the best option because it uses less bleaching than conventional paper and reduces the use of toxic chemicals. Recycled paper incorporates full-cycle production costs, which takes responsibility for the entire lifecycle of the paper. You should do due diligence to ensure you’re choosing products produced by companies that are environmentally sustainable with a low carbon footprint.
To have the greatest environmental impact, you should choose the most environmental option within the grade of paper that you plan to use. This means you don’t need to compromise on paper quality to meet your environmental objectives.
Modern printers tend to include features like energy-saving standby modes. It’s important to look for these clearly eco-friendly features and to ensure the provider uses environmentally-sustainable manufacturing processes.
For example, Konica Minolta printers include the following environmental features:
Choosing the right printers and streamlining your fleets can ensure that your office printers are as environmentally-sustainable as it’s possible to be.
Setting a culture of environmental sustainability is also important to maximise your team members’ contribution. For example, setting cultural expectations around minimising printing is important. You can also set rules to reduce the amount of paper and resources used. For example, mandating that team members print documents double-sided can reduce the amount of paper that gets wasted.
Pull printing is another way to reduce the amount of wasted paper. Requiring users to input a code or swipe a card at the printer before their document will print out eliminates the chance that they’ll print a document and then forget about it. When that happens, usually the user reprints it or colleagues eventually throw it away; either way, the paper is wasted.
To learn more about Konica Minolta’s sustainability practices and eco-friendly products, contact our friendly sales team today.
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