Anna Moseley

anna.moseley@yahoo.com

1.

If you were asked by a client what to do in the following situation, what would you reply. They have an old photocopier/printing machine that does not print duplex, because of this they are looking at a new machine; they want to know whether they should buy one and what to look for if they do.

Recommendations:

1) If you currently print more than 6000 sides per month I would recommend replacing your
old printer/copier with an energy efficient duplex printer with a sleep mode. The amount of pages you intend to print per hour will affect the recommended energy efficiency of your new machine; please see below for more details. You should also use recycled paper and recycle your old machine.

2) If you currently print less than 6000 sides per month I would recommend replacing your
old printer/copier with an energy efficient simplex (single side) printer with a sleep mode, and recycle your old machine. Or, (if your current printer does not have a sleep mode) keep your current machine but install an external control switch to turn the printer off after a pre-set time. Use recycled paper. Reasons:

When purchasing a new printer/copier the four things (1) you need to consider are: Energy consumption Use of paper and consumables such as toner, ink cartridges and maintenance kits (which also have embedded environmental impacts from production) Equipment purchase (which also has embedded impacts) End of life disposal Regarding the first point, energy consumption, by replacing your printer with an energy efficient model you will see a decrease in your electricity bills. I have taken the following table (Table 1.) from a paper by the Department of Energy (USA). It shows how switching from a printer such as yours with a base annual energy use of 370 kWh, to a modern energy efficient printer with an annual energy use of 144 kWh, can save you around $70 over the lifetime of the printer (on a machine printing 17 pgs./min on a laser printer.)(2)

Anna Moseley

anna.moseley@yahoo.com

Table 1. Printer Cost-Effectiveness Example (17 pgs./min. Networked Laser Printer)

(2)

Out of two machines with the same energy efficiency, duplex printing takes more time and consumes more energy per Kilowatt Hour (kWH) during the printing process per sheet of paper compared to simplex (single sided) printing (Duplex =0.0003133 kWH per sheet, Simplex= 0.0002667 kWH per sheet)(2) .However, money will be saved by switching to a duplex printer if your business prints 6,000 to 8,000 pages a month (8-9 pages an hour) (medium or high speed laser printer)(2) as large savings can be made from reducing paper consumption by over 1/3. For example, with a duplex laser printer which prints 17 pgs./min. there is a potential to save around $570 over the lifetime of the machine (6 years). (2) The cost of the duplex attachment is often repaid in two years or less. (2) Any printer that you buy should qualify for good efficient energy rating and have a sleep mode function. The number of pages your business typically prints per minute and whether or not colour printing is required should dictate which printer you buy (See Table 2.). For example, if your business prints fewer than 10 pages/min. in black and white than an efficiency of 10 watts or less recommended. However, if more than 44 pages/min. are required then an efficiency of only 75 watts or less is recommended. (2)

Table 2. Printer Efficiency Recommendations (2)

From an environmental perspective, saving on paper has the potential to significantly reduce your carbon footprint. I have taken the following graph from a paper by Susan Morse of the University of Indiana (See Figure 1.). It clearly demonstrates how the CO 2 generated by the paper manufacturing process vastly outweighs the CO 2 produced during the printing process. Therefore the main CO 2 saving is made by switching to a duplex printer to cut paper consumption. It also shows how using recycled paper can further reduce your carbon footprint. You can visit the website Papercalculator.org to find out more about reducing your carbon footprint by using recycled paper.

Anna Moseley

anna.moseley@yahoo.com

Figure 1. Lbs. of CO2 by Recycled Content (3)

If you choose to replace your machine I also recommend recycling your old printer. Here is a list of businesses that will be able to take away your old machine for free: http://www.computerdisposals.co.uk/ http://www.it-green.co.uk/printer%20recycling.html http://www.sitr.com/printer_recycling_disposal.htm If you choose to keep your current machine, I would recommend the use of an external control switch to turn the printer off (rather than into sleep mode) after a pre-set time, and switch it on again when a print signal is received.

2.

A client has a number of staff that relentlessly leave the lights on and their PCs on, how do they educate these members of staff?

Recommendations: I recommend in sending your employees to a training day at Green Element in order to make your staff more aware of the cost implications within the work place of not being environmentally aware to the effects of climate change. Green Element staff have been specially trained in ISO 14001. This environmental tool is utilised all over the world and has far reaching implications. The training day can be tailored to your needs to enable a greater understanding as to what effect the environment has on their industry.

Anna Moseley

anna.moseley@yahoo.com

As you clearly have a positive attitude towards greening up your office may I also suggest that this training course be integrated with a Green Element Greening up Strategy in order to identify other ways of reducing your carbon footprint and saving you money. Furthermore, these are the initial steps which are formally required for the BS 8555, ACORN, which is an officially recognised Environmental Management Standard (EMS) recommended by DEFRA (4).This standard offers accredited recognition for organisations evaluating and improving their environmental performance through the phased implementation of an EMS. Please click here for more information and the benefits of obtaining the BS 8555. If you are interested in completing phase one, described as Commitment and Establishing the Baseline, with us please see the Green Element website.

3.

A client wants to travel to Manchester City Centre tomorrow morning arriving before 09:00; the price of a train ticket is 180. What should they do?

Recommendations: Considering the early start required, long distance and high price of the ticket, I ask if it is truly necessary for you to be there in person. If there is a conference you need to attend, a greener and less stressful solution is for you to communicate via video call instead using free software such as Skype or FaceTime. If you require a service were you can present slides, graphs, files and webpages remotely may I recommend Meetingzone.com. This is a paid service but it is still far cheaper than the train ticket to Manchester.

References

(1)

James, P. and Hopkinson, l. 2009. Energy Efficient Printing and Imaging in Further and Higher Education. University of Bradford. SustainIT. [online] Available at: <<www.susteit.org.uk/uploads/DOCS/55-printing_final_27_5_09.doc>> [Accessed 28th November 2012]

(2)

How to buy and Energy Efficient Computer Printer, 2001. Department of Energy United States of America. [online] Available at: <http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/printer.pdf> [Accessed 25th November 2012]

(3)

Morse, S. 2009. An Exploration into the Environmental Impact of Duplex versus Simplex Printing. IU Office of Sustainability. [online] Available at: <http://www.indiana.edu/~sustain/docs/Coleman%20Morse%20Duplex %20Summary.pdf>[Accessed 25th November 2012]

Anna Moseley
(4)

anna.moseley@yahoo.com

BS 8555, 2012. Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. [online] Available at: <http://ems.iema.net/index.php/acorn_scheme/bs8555/phase1> [Accessed 27th November 2012]