3 Eco-Friendly Ways to Save Printer Ink

I take several steps to save both paper and ink.

1) I change my margins to .7 (top), .7 (right), .7 (bottom) and .7 (left). This saves tons of paper since more info fits on a page.

2) I wrap text around my graphics (in MS Word double click on the graphic) and follow directions.

3) I change shading of my fonts to 80%.

4) I print in draft mode (In MS Word CTRL + P, then search for DRAFT Mode)

5) I recycle my printer cartridges by putting hole in top and squeezing ink inside using a kit I have.

6) I bought a gallon of black in for $180, and have been using it for over 10 years, and it's only 1/3 used. (NOTE: I print about 400 sheets per month so you do the Math.

7) I recycle paper by writing on the flip side (I have my kids use the flip side for writing, etc. Then we use that same paper for art projects, and rip it up for the art projects.

8) I try to buy recycled paper.

9) Where possible I tell folks not to mail me regular letters but to send emails.

Good luck as we save the world.

I often print on both sides of the paper using manual duplex, meaning that I print out all of the even-numbered pages first, flip the printed stack over and put it back into the printer, then print out all of the odd-numbered pages. The process might differ between printer models, so do some testing first.

this is interesting. thank you for the information. please read this for more tips regarding ink saving

http://www.myofficeportal.org/how-to-save-your-open-ink-cartridges.htm

Interesting article, i sahll download that app immediately, thanks.

For any printer try InkSaver.com. They give a 2 week tryout and you can set the amount of ink to use for the application you need. I have used this wonderful program for over 4 years as you only need 100% ink use for photo printing.I also have been able to use it on Lasers useing FinePrint as the middle program then it goes to the printer.

Great post!!... I'm giving green print a try..

Great post! Its a wonderful tips and advice. You save in many terms; money, paper, ink, and even environment. That's a big contribution James. Hope to hear from you again soon. Cheers.

Super tips Andy! - thanks for your views

When I need to print something from the Internet I do the following:

1. Look to see if they have a "Printer Friendly" version. Usually a button at the top or bottom of the page/article.
2. I add the item to Evernote V2. Once the item is in Evernote V2 I can edit out all the garbage. Leaves me with a clean note.
3. When all else fails do a Print Preview, usually under the File toolbar and see what the preview looks like. If it is full of junk then use method 1 or 2.

Andy

that's awesome and i'm trying the eco fonts.

That's a really great site bryan - thanks for contributing!

I use FinePrint. It works great:
http://www.fineprint.com/

Thanks Shreela for that useful comment. Sorry but my CSS skills are probably worse than yours ... perhaps a helpful reader can help out?

Great article, thanks. I installed the Eco font in XP, then set it as my font in FF 3.03 to see what it looked like. On this page, the regular text is fine, I notice no difference, but the text in the form box is a little weak looking.

But on some other pages, their text is weak looking, while other sites aren't. I guess it depends on how the set their font in CSS, and I think size matters too (hee hee).

Can you, or any of your readers, think of a way to use normal fonts with FF, but then print using the Eco font? I'm thinking something along the lines of changing the User.css file somewhere deep in the bowels of FF, but it's been a few upgrades since I've done that, I don't remember which file it is, and where it's located (XP).

Also, I only know basic CSS, so that whatever font I put in the CSS sheet would be the print font. But I'm vaguely aware of CSS having the ability to print differently than what's in the browser window, like leaving out nav menus. Perhaps there's a way to use this "print-only" CSS to change the printing font??