Eco-friendly offices and Managed Print

Climate change, pollution and environmental damage are current major talking points in office environments around the world. There are a number of schemes which organisations around the world adhere to play their part in environmental sustainability. There are however, some ways in which we can help the environment in our everyday routines and especially in our workplace.

One element of this is in the reduction of paper usage and waste. Environmental campaigns have taught us to use recycled paper as much as possible but this is not the end-game, it’s just an important step on a long path. The end goal is to ultimately reduce total use and, of course waste, in the first place.

Reducing paper consumption isn’t just about keeping the trees in the ground, it’s also important that the reduction impacts on the environmental cost of manufacturing and distribution of paper.

What is the solution?

One of the main aims of a Managed Print Solution (MPS), a software system designed to manage the use of printers and their users, is to reduce printing levels resulting in reductions in the amount of paper consumed. Without an MPS the focus has to be on changing printer user behaviour but this is a tough ask, even in smaller organisations.

With an effective design and implementation of an MPS, an organisation can change printing procedures easily without ever having to waggle their finger at their colleagues with a side note of “think of the environment” or even worse, “think of the bottom line”… Ouch.

When simple MPS procedures have been implemented, the solution will demonstrate to an organisation and its printer users the environmental impact of better printing practices in three ways:

• The number of trees saved that would have otherwise been destroyed in making paper.
• The amount of CO₂ production avoided that would otherwise have been released during the paper production process.
• The amount of energy saved, expressed as the hours required to run a 60W incandescent light bulb.

So, what does this mean?

ABS UK installed an MPS at Marshall Construction Group in December 2015. Since installation and the implementation of simple, non-invasive, automatic printer protocols, 4,000 fewer sheets of paper, both new and recycled, have been used each month, which equates over a year to:

Trees spared: 30.7% of a tree

CO₂ saved: 43 kg

Equivalent 60W Bulb usage saved: 1,860 hours

This may not seem much, but to our average MPS user such as Marshall Construction group, this means they are helping save the planet while saving £1,506.75 per annum on paper and print spend.

Project this across our service client base, however and the data looks even more impressive;

Trees spared: 303

CO₂ saved: 42,527kg

Equivalent 60W Bulb usage saved: 1,860,540 hours

What are the benefits?

So to clarify why an MPS would be worthy in your office, here are some benefits outlined:

• Saves paper which ultimately means more trees spared.
• Lowers CO_2.
• Saves energy.
• Saves you a wedge of cash.
• Saves the world (a little bit).

As you can see there’s a whole bunch of savings which means your organisation is full of superheroes!

So, whether you have one photocopier/printer or you have 50 scattered across several locations a Managed Print Solution can help your organisation save in more areas than one.

If you would like to see how a MPS can help you find a better way or for more information contact us, we can even give you an MPS 21-day FREE trial so you can see the benefits for yourself.