Strange, but possible, especially when you consider that the average U.S. office worker accounts for two pounds of paper and paperboard products every day. That’s the average employee in any industry—can you imagine how much more your faculty and other administrators print to keep up with a school full of students? Letters to parents, worksheets, and memos can add up, so check out some of these tips to save on printing in your school.
- Print double-sided rather than single. An especially good tip when you’re printing packets, double-sided or “duplex” printing is a tried-and-true method to cut your printing expenses by 50%. Quick reminder if your printer doesn’t have an automatic double-sided setting: Print the odd pages first, put the paper in face-up in the feeder tray, and then print the even ones.
- Shrink your font size and decrease your margins. If everyone’s eyes can handle smaller font and more text on a page, it’s an easy way to cut back on the number of pages people print. (Interestingly, some research points to fifth graders performing better on reading comprehension when reading smaller font sizes.)
- Use Garamond font. It’s not your standard Times New Roman and it’s a little less full than other typical fonts like Arial or Helvetica, but its thinner strokes mean less ink used in printing. In fact, 14-year-old Suvir Mirchandani found that his school district could reduce its printer ink consumption by 24% and save as much as $21,000 a year.
- Watch what pages get printed. If you only want the Internet article but not the two hundred comments attached, take a few extra seconds to tell the computer exactly how many pages you want printed instead of “printing all.” It’s amazing how often two pages would do rather than that extra page with the URL and banner ads at the bottom. Adobe Acrobat PDF readers have a feature that won’t print blank pages—especially useful if you just want the information and not a “book” format.
- Black and white versus color. Have you ever looked at how much your ink costs? According to Consumer Reports, good quality ink costs more (per ounce) than Chanel No. 5 perfume—and colored ink costs more than black. With that in mind, how often do you need to print in color? Could you print on colored paper instead? Changing your printing defaults to “grayscale” instead of color can save a lot of money.
Besides the environmental benefits of using less paper, being conscious of your school’s printer habits can save your school green of another kind. What policies has your school adopted to reduce general day-to-day expenses? Share with other readers in the comment section below.
Additional ISM resources:
Private School News Vol. 8 No. 5 Letting Go of Your Office PC
ISM Monthly Update for Business Officers Vol. 11 No. 1 Green Corner: Back-To-School Green Tips
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 37 No. 8 Strategic Financial Planning and Your School’s Budget: Companion Documents
I&P Vol. 34 No. 16 The 21st Century School: Budget
