Environment - Step 9: Save Paper When Printing

Even though computers where supposed to transform us into a paperless society, we all know that that hasn't been the case. As a society, it seems like we use more paper than ever! Here's a couple of ideas that I've come across that can help you save some paper while printing in your home office.

The first idea is the main goal of the "Change the Margins" campaign (http://www.changethemargins.com/). The whole purpose of this grass roots movement is to have as many people, companies, and university change the default margins on their computers to .75" on all 4 sides. This is such a simple idea but, if implemented on a large scale, can add up to paper and energy savings. I always narrow margins on all of my documents, but I learned from this site how to change the default margin setting on all of my new documents. For directions on how to do this on your computer, go to the Change the Margins website & click on "How to Change Your Margins". The site also has statistics on how much paper, fuel, and money can be saved by adopting this change. And you can even sign a petition on the site, imploring MicroSoft to change MS Word's software so that the default margins are 0.75" when Word is installed on new computers.

The other idea is to use the software tool GreenPrint (http://www.printgreener.com/). This tool helps save paper and money by eliminating the accidental printing of the "wasted page" - a page with just a URL, banner ad, disclaimer, or other useless data. When I previously checked this site out, you could get a free, trial copy of the GreenPrint World Version SW for 30 days; now, this SW is FREE for all home users! You can get a Home Premium version for $35. The major difference between the two is that the World Version has imbedded advertising, which helps cover the costs of providing the product for free. I haven't downloaded it yet, but I'm definitely going to check it out!

One final thing you can do is use the back sides of printed pages you no longer need. Examples include making grocery lists, take telephone messages, and use as drawing paper for children.

Good luck with your paper saving!

Take Care,
Kara