Bin The Office Printer Or Sustainable Printing?

As part of our eco promise for building a more sustainable and eco-friendly workplace, we decided to bin our office printer. But after some further investigation, we knew this wasn't the right move. Being sustainable is often not a straight road, and we all have a lot to learn when it comes to creating a more environmentally-friendly office. 

So here’s why we didn’t throw our printer out the window.

The Five Reasons We Chose Sustainable Printing

Printing Is Sometimes Needed

Sometimes printing is unavoidable, especially in an office. In fact, there are very few paperless offices in the UK, and 95% of companies store their information on paper. However, it is best to keep printing to a minimum and avoid unsustainable printing. That’s why we’ve vouched to only print when absolutely necessary, 

We Can Plant Trees

Additionally, we can plant trees. In 2019 we partnered up with Carbon Footprint to help enable our clients to plant trees. We even donate 5% of our profits to the cause. Whatsmore, we’ve now decided that if we print more than three sheets, we plant a tree! 

“Print more than three. Plant a tree.”

Recycle Our Ink Cartridges to be Sustainable

Roughly 70% of cartridges are incinerated or sent to landfill, where they spend over 1,000 years degrading while emitting harmful substances and damaging the surrounding area. For this reason, we’ve decided to recycle ours when they come to the end of their life, helping improve the sustainability of our printing.

Avoid Landfill to be Sustainable

Although binning our printer would have been very cathartic, it wouldn’t have been at all sustainable. Our rather large office printer would have ended up in landfill, along with 2.2 million tonnes of UK waste. Therefore, it has the opposite effect on sustainability. 

Avoid Hurting Ourselves

On top of not being sustainable, there was a lot of room for injury and a health and safety nightmare.

In summary, binning our printer would have negatively impacted the environment. Here at Each Person, we strive to have a minimal impact on the environment and create a sustainable workplace. 

To find out more on how you can create an eco-friendly office and improve employee engagement, contact us today at support@eachperson.com.

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