Blank Page Deletion

It seems there are quite a few applications out there to help remove blank pages in print jobs. In my mind, the application should run transparently and just remove blank pages. For "power users" an interface to manually delete pages and consolidate some of the content would be nice.

Greenprint - set Greenprint as your default printer and when you print you can view the print job and quickly delete any pages you don't want to print. This doesn't work on MacOS and reviews said it was a little clunky. 14 day trial, then it's $25 or so.

PDF Printing - If you have acrobat installed you can print to pdf and view the document before printing. If you have the full version of acrobat, you can easily delete pages. If you only have acrobat reader installed, you can use this tool called PDF clerk. Major problem is that the page deletion is not automatic. Or PDF Creator does about the same thing.

Toshiba Multi-Function Devices - Toshiba's line of MFP's has a built-in blank page omission feature. The device can be set to remove all blank pages on all print jobs without manual intervention. The system can be adjusted to remove pages based on the pixel count. Click here to find out more.

Holey Fonts

I found an interesting article called "A Cutback the Whole Office Can Get Behind". Among some behavioral changing tips, they talk about ecofont. The font (shown here) has small white dots that are only visible in large font sizes. They claim that ecofont reduces toner and ink consumption by 20%. Seems like this is worth taking a look at. Here is the article.

Download Ecofont here

...a recent survey found that nearly a trillion sheets of paper are tossed within a day of being printed. Even if all of these offices were using 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper, this amounts to nearly 90 million trees cut and processed each year for one-time uses like faxes, cover pages, emails and assignments.

Cell Phone Chargers

I wonder what the impact would be if everyone in the country unplugged their cell phone chargers (for good). Phone chargers plugged in at your home or office are a direct draw on your energy consumption. Furthermore, most people leave the chargers plugged in even when not using them.

Why not use a phone charger in your car? It seems to me that the energy created by your alternator is going to be created anyway. There is almost zero negative effect by using the 12v power outlet in your car to power up your cell.

Interesting Facts

Take a quick scan of your work environment and see all of the machines that are needed to run a business. You have computers, printers, copiers, fax machines, laminators, shredders and projectors, to name a few. Technology has come a long way with energy efficient machines and settings, but there are still costs for operating efficiently.

Time magazine reported in 2007 that “heating, cooling and powering office space are responsible for almost 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and gobble more than 70 percent of total electricity usage…[and] computers in the office burn $1billion worth of electricity annually.” As you become more “plugged in” at work, consider being conscious of the true costs of using (or not using) your office equipment.

Some other interesting facts:
- Leaving a photocopier on overnight uses enough energy to print over 5,000 A4 (letter) copies.
- A typical office wastes enough energy overnight to heat 1000 cups of coffee
- 20% of energy used in an office is through equipment, and 50% of that through IT

Going Green in Your Home Office

Going Green doesn't stop when you leave the office. Do you have end-users who utilize home offices? Take a look at this guide from the EPA for ways to make good decisions at a home office. Download the PDF here.

Idea ClearingHouse

I found an interesting website called Idea Clearing House. This concept is great for those like me who dream up the middle and the end of the story, but never get around to the beginning of the story. Here is how this guy explains his blog:
ICH is a forum for people to post good ideas that they don't have the time/money/patience to pursue on their own. Avoid orphaning your ideas by sharing them with someone who can use them. They don't need to be perfect, just thoughtful.

The site is http://ideaclearinghouse.blogspot.com/. I got the green calculator widget from his site.

Here is his blog about Green Printing

Toshiba Ties for 1st Place in the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics

Check out the March 2008 edition of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics. Here is an extract:
Toshiba has climbed up the ranking from joint 6th to joint 1st, by improving its score on Individual Producer Responsibility, whereby each company takes care of the electronic waste from its own-branded discarded end-of-life products.

Download the pdf

Easy ways to reduce printing costs

An interesting article on LifeHacker.com with tips on how to print less. The author complains about the high cost of printing on his ink printers. My first suggestion would be to get rid of the ink printer. Here is the link

Save Our Planet!

I took a picture of this 'reminder' in my hotel room. To me, things like this cheapen the eco-conscious movement. "Save The Planet!" leads me to believe that our world is melting away and will be hurled into the sun if I don't hang up my towel. Good message, bad presentation.