Printing web pages can be very ink intensive when you’ve got a fancy page at hand.  Yes, there are some basic measures you can take to save ink using selective printing- but here’s how you can automate the process!

Greenprint is an interesting piece of freeware that scans through whatever you want to print and helps to optimize the print layout.  With just a few simple clicks you can eliminate extra pages, remove selected images, and just tweak it so that you’re not wasting paper and ink.

Here’s WSJ tech guru Walt Mosberg running through a quick review of the product so you can see it in action.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zeK-6EjfQM[/youtube]

When it was first released it was paid software only, but now there is a 100% free version available for download, so not only will you be saving money from your pocket, but saving the environment as well.

Still not certain about optimizing your printing? Consider this:

1. 1 ream (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly)
2. Global paper products consumption has tripled over the past three decades and is expected to grow by half again before 2010
3. Production of 1 ton of copy paper uses 11,134 kWh (same amount of energy used by an avg household in 10 months)
4. Making one single sheet of copy paper can use over 13oz. of water– more than a typical soda can.
5. 4281 acres of rainforest are lost every hour worldwide
6. If you filled an Olympic-size swimming pool with ink it would cost $5.9 billion
7. A single mature tree can release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings

What other ways do you save ink and paper? Tells us in the comments!