PRINT GREENER,

PRINT LEANER —

reducing environmental impacts can actually save costs!

SUSTAINABILITY HAS BECOME a buzzword that has permeated all tiers of society – from top level government discussion to right down to social circles. As business owners, there are increasing pressures from not only clients and customers who look for greener suppliers, but also from employees who demand environmentally friendly practices within the workplace. Printing has long been viewed as resource intensive, wasteful and even damaging to the environment. Here we take a look at some options to reduce and recycle in day-to-day printing practices.

Assess your own suppliers – while it may seem everyone is watching your own practices, the first step in any type of sustainability audit is to ensure your own print equipment and consumables suppliers have their own impact statements and certifications. Highly relevant is to choose paper and cardboard providers who have quality recycled product line options.

Encourage employee self-checking – not all employees have green initiatives top of mind, and some are just set in old ways and habits. Encourage a culture shift where only necessary documents are printed and digital documentation is taught and prioritised. The concept of ‘going paperless’ can actually be empowering and morale boosting in any office environment!

Introduce clear, easy recycling – in addition to paper, printer cartridges can also be set aside for proper recycling. One of the biggest oversights in printing areas is unlabelled bins, where food waste and other unsuitable materials inadvertently end up mixed with recyclable paper. Having clear PAPER/PLASTICS/CARTRIDGES/ GENERAL WASTE divisions around printers makes things a lot simpler and encourages desirable behaviours. Reduce Recycling – while it may seem paradoxical, recycling actually represents significant waste. Too often, people print excessively and paper ends up in the recycling bin after a very short useful lifespan. Again, this can be seen as a cultural realignment among employees and applicable contractors.

Choose smarter technology – energy consumption can be significant with multifunction print/copier units – consider power ratings, not only the purchase price outlay. Ensure your unit can easily print double sided, multi pages per sheet and provide a monochrome option. Two step print authentication (or print release technology) can send all print jobs to a queue for final authorisation, and even individual employee print activity can be monitored for fine-tuned control.

Consider a managed print solution – Managed print is a complete solution that includes the printer/copier unit, monitoring, maintenance and support and all consumables, for an agreed monthly costing arrangement. And leading providers have all the tools to help move your office towards better sustainability practices – from greener consumables through to document digitisation, recycling and waste disposal solutions and intelligent software/hardware.

Remember, any reduction in resources represents a real-world saving – reducing environmental impacts can actually save costs! Scope Business Imaging presents bespoke, tailored solutions for any business large or small.

With some of the world’s leading brands in print technology Scope BI has the knowledge and know-how – and a proven track record – to keep businesses large and small across WA ahead of the competition.

From the Pilbara to the South West, and right across Perth Metro, contact Scope to discuss how we can improve your business imaging requirements today.