You might have heard how “Green” actions affect IT as in “HP CEO Hurd Says Green “Enhances” IT Price and Performance” in InformationWeek’s CIO blog. This week, I’m turning the blog entry over to a key member of my LaserJet Marketing Team to discuss “Green” issues and how they relate to hp’s LaserJet business. While we’ve discussed related subjects in “Turn your LaserJets Green” and “Earth Day Celebrations and HP LaserJets”—Dave Lobato now presents 10 LaserJet-specific ideas for making your business Greener (the following is from Dave Lobato, HP LaserJet Marketing):
“Want to cut the carbon footprint of you printing equipment, supplies more than half? One of our large enterprise customers did, maybe you can too. While this Customer would rather remain unrecognized for this effort (I will say that they are a large company with approximately 100,000 employees)—such relative savings are available to your organization as well.
Operating a green business is not only good for the environment but good for your business' bottom line because conserving resources and cutting down on waste saves money. Currently over 80% of enterprise customers evaluate environmental performance as part of the purchasing decision (from internal HP report on Global Environmental Market Trends). The good news is that whether you run a home-based business or a multi-site enterprise, there are a number of simple things you can do to run an environmentally-friendly business.
Here are our top ten easy-to-implement ideas for running a green business that you can put into practice right now to make your office a more environmentally-friendly place:
1. Conserve Energy--turn off equipment when it's not being used. Turning off equipment during "off" business hours can save up to 66% of their normal power consumption. Also, these HP LaserJet tools can help you conserve:
2. Produce double-sided documents whenever possible. Internal studies show companies can achieve at least a 25% savings by setting duplex as a standard:
Utilize HP’s Universal Print Driver in your environment to set duplex as the printing default. Users can opt out of duplex mode when printing items that require single-sided printing.
3. Reduce fax-related paper waste by using digital images that can be captured and sent directly from a scanner or computer without requiring a printed hard copy:
Utilize HP scanners, digital MFPs and digital sending software to capture and send images through the workflow process, reducing the need for paper and supplies.
4. Recycle--Choose suppliers who take back packaging, supplies and hardware for reuse:
HP’s industry-leading Planet Partners program, established in 1991, allows free and convenient return and recycling of toner and ink cartridges. More than 106 million HP LaserJet print cartridges have been returned and recycled since 1991. If you laid these cartridges end to end, starting at the equator, you would circle 85% of the circumference of the earth.
Also, for a small fee, hp will take back and properly dispose of any vendor's hardware, in most countries. To date, this program has taken back over 1 billion pounds of equipment.
5. Detoxify--Many offices have toxic substances, such as used batteries and copier toner, on hand. Talk to suppliers about alternatives to toxics and make sure you properly dispose of the ones you can't avoid using:
- Utilize HP’s desktop MFP’s with Instant-on Copy which uses LED copy technology instead of a fluorescent tube. This technology saves energy and reduces the hazardous particles found in fluorescent tubes.
All HP LaserJet printing products are now RoHS compliant, meaning all lead-based materials have been removed as of July 2006.
Using HP’s chemically-grown toner is more environmentally-friendly than competitive alternatives.
Recycle hardware and supplies through HP Planet Partners program (see above).
Use media with recycled content--HP Recycled Paper, for instance, reduces build-up of dust particles and is designed to run on all office equipment.
6. Utilize energy efficient products in your environment. Choosing the right product
for the environment can help reduce your overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
7. Buy green--Tell suppliers that you're interested in sustainable products and set specific goals for buying recycled, refurbished or used. Make the environment, and not just price, a factor when purchasing:
8. Use a Balanced Deployment Model--Using a model where selective desktop, centralized workgroup and data center printing exists will reduce your overall power consumption and supplies costs.
9. Get employees involved--Create a team to lead the company's eco-efforts and determine where you can have the biggest impact for the least amount of money
going green is something each and every person in the organization is responsible for. Set specific programs, owners, and metrics and periodically review your progress.
10. Communicate--Inform suppliers and customers about your efforts. And get in touch with local regulatory agencies, many of which offer financial incentives to businesses that make progress on local, state or municipal green initiatives.
Going green doesn't necessarily require a radical makeover. A series of small steps--many of which don't cost a dime--can add up to a new way of doing business.”
Please feel free to leave any comments about this blog or related Imaging & Printing subjects and I’ll make sure Dave gets them. I would also be interested in hearing about your ideas of how to make printing more green or specific actions you have taken in your businesses . . .
-Vince
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