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Spare a Landfill: Recycle that Toner Cartridge

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That pile of empty toner cartridges can get pretty big, pretty fast in a busy office environment where a good deal of printing takes place. When it comes time to dispose of them, it’s essential to our environment to recycle those toner cartridges. Of the more than 500 million toner cartridges sold each year in the United States, an astonishing 350 million of those are sent to landfills. Considering it takes hundreds of years for the cartridge plastic to biodegrade, this is a problem that needs to be addressed in the name of corporate social responsibility. Fortunately, there are eco-friendly solutions that are readily available to businesses.

The many hazards of toner
Before we get into those eco-friendly solutions available to aid in recycling empty cartridges, let’s quickly go over how much damage toner can do to our environment. Toner ink contains toner dust, which can be carcinogenic. Among other health concerns, a recent study shows that the dust can cause issues with people’s eyes, lungs, and skin when in direct contact. If inhaled, it can lead to respiratory issues such as bronchitis.

Convenient solutions
Fortunately, there are options available for recycling your empty toner cartridges. The first option should be to find a local recycling facility. Infomax Office Systems has partnered with a number of vendors with locations that will accept toner cartridges for recycling. If you can’t get to a local facility on a regular basis, you can refill your cartridges. There are refill kits available to help you reuse your empty cartridges for as long as possible until you can get them to a recycling facility. These are simple solutions that can make recycling a routine part of your business and make your office a more sustainable one.

With so many empty toner cartridges ending up in our landfills, it’s essential that more businesses get on board with toner cartridge recycling solutions to help minimize the impact on our environment. For more information on how Infomax Office Solutions can assist with your recycling efforts and help you ‘green’ your office, contact us today!

Is Your Printer a Green Printer?

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It is not a secret that printing a significant number of documents is not exactly the most environmentally friendly office practice. Despite this knowledge, having a printer in the office remains absolutely essential to a company’s success. That said, all printers are not created equal; some printers are greener—or more environmentally friendly—than others. Here are some easy ways to determine exactly how eco-friendly your office printers really are. It is never too late to ‘go green’ in the office, and this post will arm you with the information needed to help you do so, starting with your printers.

How much electricity is your printer using?

Energy consumption is generally an afterthought for most businesses; however, it must be considered more regularly in order to create more sustainable offices. Generally, business-grade inkjet printers use less electricity than other printers that rely on heat to fuse toner to paper. Fortunately, many printer manufacturers understand this issue and now make printers that are not as reliant on energy for efficiency. Look up the product specs for your printers to find out exactly how much power they use. This information will help you determine how your devices compare to other models when making future purchases.

Does it allow you to print on both sides of paper?

Printing large documents on individual sheets of paper is much more wasteful than necessary. Especially when the documents are only being used internally, as opposed to being handed off to a client, vendor, or partner. A printer that is equipped for duplex printing will enable you to easily print your documents on both sides of paper. This green option can cut your company’s paper consumption in half.

Is the printer multi-functional?

The more machines kept in the office, the more energy and consumables necessary to keep these devices up and running. Instead of having numerous machines that only have one purpose, consider investing in an all-in-one or multifunction printer (MFP). An MFP enables you to print, copy, scan, and fax from one single machine. Not only is this more efficient economically, but also logistically, as MFPs enable employees to multitask for a more efficient workflow and take up less office space.

Is it certified green?

ENERGY STAR certifies office technology devices that minimize operational power. For the most part, these machines stop using power and go into a ‘sleep mode’ when they are not used for a certain amount of time. This reduces the amount of energy used to operate certified machines. Additionally, they are easily programmed to go on standby mode, and in doing so, can save companies anywhere from 15 to 30 percent on printer-related expenses.

Businesses considering ‘going green’ can get started on their way to corporate responsibility by addressing simple technology devices like their printers. Spending a little extra time understanding how to improve your printer’s efficiency and effectiveness in the office can benefit your business, the environment, and your reputation with both clients and employees. Contact Infomax today to learn more.

Easy Ways to Practice Green Printing in the Office

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Environmental responsibility is essential in today’s office. Not sure how to start doing your part, beyond recycling paper? Read on for some easy strategies to increase your company’s commitment to sustainability by focusing on greening your business’ printing practices.

● Print on both sides — Two-sided (also called duplex) printing is one of the fastest and easiest ways to green your printing practices. By choosing this setting, your printed documents will use as much as 50 percent less paper.

● Use fast or draft mode — Fast mode speeds up printing time and dramatically reduces the amount of toner used per page. Only print in normal or high-resolution if it’s absolutely necessary—like for formal presentations and proposals.

● Print in monochrome — Black and white printing uses less toner than color printing. Even “black” text can use color toner, unless you specifically designate grayscale or monochrome printing.

● Program eco-friendly defaults — The best way to ensure green printing practices from your staff is to make it automatic. Set all printers in your fleet to default to environmentally-friendly settings to ensure the biggest impact.

● Avoid printing pictures — Unless an image is essential for understanding the content, stick to text only when printing.

● Use print-friendly formats — If you must print a webpage, look for the printer icon—typically at the top of the page—to print without wasteful images, sidebars, and menus. For PowerPoint presentations, print in handout format, with three or six slides per page.

● Share print resources — A networked device makes it possible for multiple users to share one machine. You’ll save energy by slashing the number of machines in use, and you’ll have less unused, wasted time for each device.

● Consolidate to a multifunction printer (MFP) — A single MFP can handle the duties of a printer, copier, scanner, and fax machine. Switching to an MFP will use less power, take up less space, and save money.

● Use EnergyStar-certified machines — Look for the blue star that indicates a device is as energy-efficient as possible. These models will usually include advanced sleep modes to save power when not in use, upping your sustainability efforts even when you’re off the clock.

● Recycle printer cartridges — Used cartridges can be refilled as many as a dozen times, conserving raw materials and preventing waste.

Contact Infomax Office Systems today for help putting green printing practices in place for your company!

Going Green Starts with Your Office Equipment

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There are plenty of ways to “go green” in your office. Many of these eco-friendly practices are intuitive, such as turning off your computer at the end of the day, and using the appropriate waste bins to separate trash from recyclables.

That said, more and more eco-conscious companies are making smarter hardware decisions to meet their green initiatives. Investing in efficient office equipment—such as printers, copiers, scanners, and MFPs—saves energy without sacrificing quality.

Here are some tips for choosing greener hardware for your office:

  • Invest in efficiency. Typically, office equipment usage accounts for up to 40 percent of a company’s energy bill. Highly efficient machines are simply better for your business in the long run—and also provide immediate cost savings. Be sure to select high-efficiency equipment, usually indicated by the ENERGY STAR symbol. This tells you that you’re purchasing an eco-friendly product, and can potentially reduce the energy used by your business’s hardware by up to 60 percent.
  • Consider the features. Does the MFP you are considering offer duplex printing, advanced sleep mode, and other eco-features? If not, you may want to keep looking. These features are essential for reducing energy consumption and chopping that electricity bill.
  • Buy local. In addition to supporting your local economy, buying or leasing your equipment from a local vendor ensures less gas is used for transportation. Big box office retailers use huge amounts of energy in the shipping of equipment from centralized warehouses to your office. Local inventory also means our machines are available for expedited delivery and installation, with on-site training for your staff.
  • Remember to consolidate. Do you really need separate devices for your printer, scanner, and fax machine? Instead of multiple devices that take up too much energy and office space, consider an MFP, or multi-function printer. Multi-functions systems ensure all of your document imaging needs are met, and consume about 40 percent less energy than offices with standalone devices.

These are just a few of the ways smart hardware decisions can help save the planet and your pocketbook. To learn more, contact Infomax today.

How to Capitalize with an MPS Solution

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MPS is about more than just managing your printer fleet. It’s about creating opportunities for your business so you can capitalize on growth and focus on core competencies. And that’s exactly what a Managed Print Service (MPS) solution can do for your business.

Here are some of the ways Managed Print Services from Infomax can help your business.

  • Cutting costs: Secure digital connectivity means that your IT and printer-fleet costs are kept at bay. Rather than allowing your printer-related problems to grow or, worse yet, be improperly handled, you can rest assured all issues will be handled by your MPS vendor quickly and properly. This allows your IT staff more time to focus on other areas of your business, which grow your operation and increase profits. This will ultimately boost your staff’s productivity and will save your business money over time.
  • Increasing efficiency: Sooner or later, every hardware or imaging device will have a problem. But, your company depends on your copiers, printers, and MFP for its day-to-day operations. And, that’s where the value of an MPS solution really comes into play. With MPS, there is always a plan for immediate action to remedy the situation and get your office back on track. This maximizes efficiency and productivity so your business doesn’t miss a beat.
  • Reducing your carbon footprint: “Going green” is not just a fun phrase. On the contrary, taking steps towards a greener office is actually is hugely beneficial to all companies, as well as the environment. An environmentally conscious business has an improved reputation, as well as a greater chance of taking advantage of tax incentives. MPS can help find the middle ground between what you need, and what is best for the planet Earth.
  • Staying competitive: Taking advantage of MPS can help you stay ahead of the curve. You are not only more aware of your printing environment and its output, but you are able to implement this knowledge in a way that saves time, money, and energy.

To learn more about how MPS can take your business to the next level, contact us today.

Why Recycle Toner Cartridges?

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In a perfect world, businesses would never produce waste. After all, waste is not only bad for the environment, it’s also bad for the pocketbook. Because of how prevalent waste can be, oftentimes businesses overlook easy steps that could reduce their waste, such as recycling toner cartridges.

Here are some of the benefits of recycling those old toner cartridges.

  • Reducing emissions: By recycling toner cartridges, you help reduce the more than 40,000 tons of plastic and metal that goes into landfills, meaning you are also reducing air and water emissions. Landfilling, incineration, and the manufacturing of new cartridges are all cut down when you recycle your cartridges.
  • Conserving natural resources: Recycling means that you are taking part in a global effort to reduce the need for raw materials. This way, resources such as water, timber, oil, and minerals are being used less.
  • Saving energy: The amount of energy consumed when unneeded waste must be processed is astronomical. This is because the energy required to make a new cartridge is several times that of simply reusing or recycling an old one. Currently, only 20-40% of empty cartridges are recycled, meaning up to 80% go to landfills.
  • Improving quality: Saving the planet is great, but your business must still rely on high-quality cartridges. Fortunately, recycled cartridges are just as reliable as new ones. Also, recycled cartridges are cheaper. This way, you are saving money in multiple areas, and helping to reduce the 300 million cartridges that are thrown away each year.
  • Simplifying the process: Many businesses hesitate to begin recycling their cartridges, for fear that it is a tedious task. After all, business are busy places, and who needs one more thing to worry about? The reality is that recycling toner cartridges is easier than ever and can quickly be incorporated into your business.

Several of Infomax’s vendors accept toner cartridges for recycling. Click here to learn more, or contact us directly to learn more about the benefits of recycling toner cartridges and how you can get started.

Go Green with Simple Solutions

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Going green is a great way to save money and the environment. The problem is that many businesses simply do not know where to begin. The options are seemingly endless, and sometimes cost efficiency gets lost in the mix. Fortunately, there is an easy way to keep “going green” in the forefront of your mind and your bottom line.

When making the transition to a greener office environment, keep the three R’s in your mind at all times:

  • Reduce: First and foremost, it is vital that your company deciphers between the necessary and the unnecessary when it comes to printed documents. A good Managed Print Services (MPS) strategy will take this into account and help guide your business toward reducing the unnecessary elements. User controls and printer release codes are also great ways to reduce superfluous printing, while saving your company money. Also consider reducing your actual printing devices. Perhaps you don’t need a desktop printer in every office. We can help you evaluate your print environment to reduce office waste.
  • Reuse: A great way to go green is to use your equipment in as many ways as possible, or switch to multifunction products that maximize efficiency but minimize your carbon footprint. Also, consider duplex printing when it is appropriate. If the information on one side of the paper is not sensitive, throw it back into the printing tray. Reusing as much as possible will help save money and trees.
  • Recycle: Everyone knows you can recycle paper. Put secure recycling bins near your MFPs and let recycling paper become second nature. Then, move on to recycling various consumable parts and cartridges associated with your printing needs. Once these actions become second nature, you are well on your way to going green.

The three R’s help simplify the “going green” process. Share these tips with your workers and take the intimidation factor out of it. After all, helping the environment should not be a stressful task. In fact, it should be universally helpful.

Contact Infomax today to learn more ways to go green!