According to a news last month, Xerox and BT (British Telecom) had a partnership which aims to reduce the firm's carbon footprint, as well as to cut the local authority's print services by up to 30%.

Amanda Abernethy, director and general manager in global document outsourcing at Xerox UK, said: 

The five-year managed print service agreement will provide the firm with all the necessary information and flaws of their print environment. Hence they will be able to determine how much wastage they're practically accumulating and how inefficient their printing process was previously. Through monitoring and proper implementations, both parties assumed to eliminate poor processes with regards to printing.

In five years, both British Telecom and Xerox will work as one to strategize a fully enhance print management system suitable to help the firm reach their goal particularly to eliminate extra expenses, reduce costs, and increase productivity and efficiency.

According to the news, the agreement includes an action to replace about 1,500 printers with only 150 units of MFP (multifunction printers) that supports energy-saving features.There's also this high-end way of printing which will be implemented, allowing staffs to send a print job to a supported printer from any floor of the company building. A receiving staff will be able to release the print job by swiping a unique identification card specifically provided for such purposes. Through this great innovation, employees and staffs will learn to practice responsible printing, eradicating excessive printing of unnecessary files, which in effect will also reduce waste and cost.

A new printing environment in a company may tend to create a buzz around, but if it's for the company's own benefits there's no reason to hold back. Xerox, aside from providing quality printing equipments, copiers, MFP, as well as consumables such as Xerox toner cartridges and ink cartridges, not to mention their solid ink products for certain printers. It is also a worldwide recognized market leader in managed print services. In fact, Xerox was part of the Leaders Quadrant in the Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services Worldwide.

If you want to start with small steps, since getting a managed print service is certainly a hefty decision, you can at least consider the use of green printing software or switch to remanufactured toner cartridges and ink cartridges with your machines. Remember that a goal can also be reached even with small steps.

With the effort to bring forth a new paperless office printing system, Toshiba introduced an essentially new kind of MFP printer, it uses laser technology hence it requires toners to produce printouts. Unlike any other lasers that works with the typical toners we've been used to, Toshiba's e-STUDIO 306LP/RD30 printer can create prints through a special toner that can be erased.

It is a system though, the printer is paired with a unique device which they preferred to be called as the "Eraser". Once a printout produced from the RD30 printer has no use, erasing the print from the paper can be done by feeding it to the Eraser, which will then erase the prior document. It's not actually much of a task to do, since the benefit you'll get from it is much more worth it.

Based on a recent release, paper sheets can be reused for as much as five times the regular printing. One of the key features of the Eraser is that it can detect a page that has been erased up to its maximum limit, thus separating it from the others and sending it to a bin. Additionally, if you have a FriXion pen from Pilot, or if you don't know what it is, well it's the pen version of this technology. The FriXion ballpoint pen has thermo-sensitive gel ink which can also be erased repeatedly without damaging the paper. Say, you have a printout from the e-STUDIO 306LP/RD30 printer and you want to put a specially hand written note on it, basically that's possible since the Eraser can also remove the ink from a FriXion pen.

According to British Standards Institute, a globally known national standard organization, about 57% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emmision has been greatly reduced. Plus it generally minimize paper usage by up to five times.

The toner present in its cartridges is neither black nor color, it is actually distinguished as blue. It performs and deliver outputs in a similar manner, except that the printed text or images can be erased by applying heat. In any case you need to keep a copy of the file from the sheet before you erase it, the device can be configured to scan the existing print from a page and save it to an archive location before running through the process.

It will certainly reduce the office's carbon footprint emission, paper waste, expense, and most of all, it teaches any working environment to become more environmentally responsible. Well, the system is not yet available to the market and is expected to be released before the end of this year. So for the mean time, to help you make a greener way of printing, consider using recycled toner cartridges and ink cartridges with your printer to help save the environment. Also, you'll not only contribute to the sustainability, but you also get to save more from using eco-friendly printer consumables and supplies.

Major occasions and celebrations such as the Independence Day,which we annually commemorate during the 4th of July, come with traditions that most of us never failed to reflect. However, sometimes we even forget to at least hold back a little with what we've been doing, for the sake of the environment. There's no wrong with celebrating a most awaited holiday especially the Independence Day, since it is one of the most festive holidays of the year. What's concerning is the negative effect of the way we celebrate it, say like using fireworks, we know that firing up colorful and sparkling lights up in the sky is a time-honored tradition, but we're also aware of the ecological impacts it might bring to the environment.

Being concern about the environment doesn't require anyone to spoil someone's pleasure, in fact we're just having fun, although we know little on how to make a gleeful atmosphere while keeping the consequences minimal. We should be responsible with our every action, whilst it doesn't mean you have to be a killjoy. The knowledge about what you're planning to do or will be doing can help minimize the possible detrimental effects of it, hence we can also say that everything is under control.

Fireworks and bonfires, both sounds fun right, however they may released harmful toxins and chemicals that tend to cause serious health problem to anyone. Come to think of it, we're not just talking about the safety of our environment here, but our body as well. Instead of inhaling harmful carbon monoxide from these two activities, why not consider gathering the whole gang, maybe your friends, family and relatives would love to have an outdoor fun. It's better to catch a baseball with a smile, than catch a lung problem and make your family worried. Play football, basketball or baseball, whatever it is that you prefer, as long as everyone is happy with the game, plus you get yourself fit with these workouts.

Picnic or party, which one is better? Actually you don't have to choose, throw them both, picnic in the morning and party at night. Just make sure that proper waste disposal is implemented on both activities. Having picnic under the nice and warm shade of trees makes a good family bonding. While night outs and dinner parties are perfect for old folks who love cocktails and wines, also don't forget to play a nice music to set the mood. Do you know that there are such organic wines produced from grapes grown without synthetic fertilizers? In the US, there are several Wine Club that offer various organic wines that may suit your palate. So if you want to fill your shelf with organic wines and make it bloom in green vines, you may subscribe to any wine-of-the-month club near you. 

Additionally, throwing a party requires an invitation, if it's not actually needed, try not to print cards or any sort of it, just invite them thru sending an sms or email, make use of technology the right way. You see, printing a lot of invitation cards requires you to spend a lot as well, special paper sheets, printer inks, and mailing services, these are some of the expense generators. Whilst you may say you're using eco-friendly toner cartridges or ink cartridges with your printer, or recycled paper products, still there's the expense. Unlike if you compose a sweet message inviting them to a dinner party or just a simple picnic, then send it to everyone you dear, wouldn't that be more ideal?

These are just few of the things you may consider on how to welcome and celebrate the Independence Day, but still at the end of the day, it's your own decision that will make a difference. Happy 4th of July America.

Since it's summer, why not keep yourself busy with environment friendly and fun learning craft activities that will improve your green way of living. It's pretty usual that after school days, you'll find a lot of projects, research papers, things and stuffs from school piling up in your room. Instead of dumping it all into the bins or wait for the garbage truck to pick them up, why not make use of all those materials for recycling purposes, that sounds much better. To ensure that our own waste wouldn't end up in the landfills, move and start digging inside the box, check all those things you have and see which can still be reused.

Aside from those stuffs, recall those paper works and printouts you've made during the school year, set aside the paper materials we'll have a different thing to do with those. What you should be gathering are the printer consumables you spent for all those term papers, researches and printed materials. Here are some of the nicest and niftiest recycling activities that you can do with old and used printer cartridges. Let's bring out the creativity within you, and show your friends how artistically you can be.

Starting from the very easy and simple yet fancy project, let's call it as Project1 or the Cartridge Paperweights. Everyone can use it especially in the office, make as many as you can and give it to your mom, dad, brothers, sisters, friends, or anyone that may need it. With the use of some adhesives and glittering accessories, you can embellish the empty cartridges with anything you want. But before doing the fun part, first you have to get dirty cause you need to clean the cartridges and fill it with sand. You can't call it a paperweight if it literally doesn't have any weight,right? Once done decorating the cartridge, glue it into a cardboard or a small piece of wood to serve as its base so it can stand. You now have your very own paperweight out of recycled toner cartridges and ink cartridges.

Rank two on our list of the easiest recycling project are the ref-magnets. Instead of buying why not make your own, so you'll have a more customized design and decorations. With Project2, you have to purchase small magnets which will be placed at the back of the cartridges. You can either paint or let the cartridges as it is, but make sure their clean,since kids might reach out of those and nibble it.

Third on our list is called the Family Picture Frame. This one's a bit tricky, since you have to collect ink tanks of different sizes and thickness. You'll have a problem if you only have one class of cartridge at home, but I've got a work-around. Get some glue and stick two cartridges to make its width double than the usual, then repeat the process but now make it three pieces of cartridges. Once the glue completely dried out, arrange the cartridges in a cardboard with a size enough to hold your prepared cartridges. Paste those cartridges into the cardboard but don't glue the cartridges near to any cartridge with same thickness. Let the cartridges stick in place, once they're perfectly glued to the board, cut pictures of the members of the family and paste it randomly to the cartridges, then allow it to dry.

Here's the hardest and perhaps will keep your hands at work literally. Prepare cartridges of the same sizes and types, clean and remove the labels so it'll have the translucent effect. Now get a wire and make a hole at the bottom side of each cartridges -- from these holes you'll shoot the wire. It's like creating a bracelet of used cartridges, think of the cartridges as the beads and the wire as the string. If you want a lamp with height, glue two layers of it to make a tall lamp. It can also work as a chandelier, just tie a wire on to the top cartridges or the lid and hand it on a chain that can support its weight.

Printing industry is continuously working on developing methods and solutions to replace the production and manufacturing processes involved in issues that affects the environment.Long before they started doing this, the print industry was facing several complains regarding the negative ecological impacts that it produces. The machines itself are not efficient enough to provide environment friendly results. Printer users as well are unconsciously generating waste which are more often ending up as land fillers or mostly in incinerators. But these stories happened long ago, although such problems still exist today, we can say that they're somehow limited and controlled.

Reducing landfill waste, this is one of the industry's main goal. Clearly and absolutely, they're giving much effort to improved and push their goal from which they expect to see far better results. Green certifications were given important bearing compared before, even manufacturers are competing to be certified by a number of industry leading organizations that are internationally recognize. Several recycling programs were also implemented and conducted in different parts of the world to promote sustainability by recycling printer supplies. Through establishing recycling programs, manufacturers and consumers work together to reduce landfill waste. If you're not familiar of such recycling programs available for your printer's brand, see this post about HP Planet Partners, especially to those who are using HP printers.

Eco-friendly inks and eco-friendly toner cartridges were also developed in the course of achieving environmentally responsible printing solutions. Bio-based inks were introduced and are supposed to replace chemical-based inks with Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), however, these inks were not ideal nor efficient enough to use for conventional printing. Besides, brand manufacturers might not accept switching the ink formulas from which the customers had been accustomed for several years.

Paperless printing or communicating without the need to print was also push and promoted, This in return help save trees from being cut down, reduced environmental impact, plus the amount of paper waste we accumulate dramatically decreased over the past years. Cloud computing services also brought a lot of changes in the industry, not only the technological field of storage space. More probably we can't completely eliminate the need to use paper, but for every paperless action we made, we're moving towards one direction and that is way to a more environment friendly world.

Million tons of paper waste are accumulated annually in the U.S. alone, then what more if we add up the waste from other countries around the world. No one should say that they have no idea on how should they properly managed waste or limit their consumption to reduce their generated waste. Cause as far as today's level of media and technology, we are well informed about such ways and acts that may help us improve our daily living in terms of reducing waste. 

Saving paper products and materials is not a very hard task, even kids can do it while having fun, it's just a matter of how you imply its worth. Positive results are driven by positive actions, and remember this part of song by the iconic Michael Jackson, "if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change". Start doing small things, like changing the way you usually print, it's not easy to change what you've been accustomed to especially if you make it a habit, but still you have to change if it's for the best.

Before hitting the print button and sending your file to the print queue, check your file, are there more spaces where you can fit in more into the page, or see if the formatting is efficient both to the printer and paper you'll use. Unless it's a report that requires double spacing or any specific format. See if you can still reduce the font-size to a smaller font, as long as it's still readable, also avoid overly large font sizes and styles, this way you'll not only conserve paper sheets, but the inks/toners as well. Also, it's a good practice to use recycled printer papers and eco-friendly toner cartridges or ink cartridges when printing.

The way to communicate with one another has rapidly change, although snail mails are still available. If you're message is not that important, then use a mobile phone, if you want to chat and open a messenger, if it's a bit important or private,then send it through email. Several options are available depending on the importance of what you're about to send. As much as you can eliminate printing emails, bills and all sorts of printables, then do so.

Learn to recycle, and if you're not capable of doing such thing which I hardly doubt, then consider participating to any recycling organization in your community that accepts paper materials. To save more paper, we have to use them repeatedly and believe it or not there are hundreds of ways to reuse paper materials which you haven't thought of as possible. Just try to see this post about recycled paper materials turn back into wood or maybe the brief history and facts about paper will guide you on determining how can you make use of paper products efficiently.

How broad is your knowledge about paper? Do you even know that its name was derive in two different words which is papyrus and papuros? If both of your answers are no, then spend a minute of your time reading this post regarding the things you might want to know about papers. First of all, the term papyrus is a Latin word, derived from the Greek word papuros, is a  paper-like material which was first used in Egypt and Southern Sudan. It was extracted from a plant called Cyperus Papyrus in Nile delta.

Back in millions of years ago, BCE, the Egyptians were able to utilize it as a writing material where ancient archaeological inscriptions were inscribed in hieroglyphic forms. It was the only material they had that time for writing purposes, however, it was too fragile and more prone to damage due to moisture and dryness, even the texture of it was somewhat irregular for legible writing.

Then here comes the innovation, during the early 2nd Century AD, Cai Lun or Ts'ai Lun developed the pulp paper-making process. They cooked wooden fibres and mixed it with a slurry, then poured onto a cloth screen. China used paper as a substitute for silk, hence they were able to export silk instead. Since then, paper spread from China through the Middle East, then by the 13th century it hit the Medieval Europe where the very first paper-mills were built and powered by hydro-electricity.

Several improvements and developments run in the history of paper making. One of which is the wood-fiber-pulping method which was developed in 1844 by two Canadian inventors namely Charles Fenerty and German F.G. The pulp paper-making method has two different methods :

• Chemical Pulping - which consists of Kraft Process, Sulfite Process and Soda Process.
  
• Mechanical Pulping - which has two major process, the Thermo Mechanical Process and Groundwood Process.
  

Aside from the aforementioned methods, have you heard of the the process called "Deinking" or Deinked Pulping? It is simply one of the familiar terms we heard when it comes to preserving paper materials, which is Paper Recycling. Based from the name itself, "de" is a prefix which means to separate or remove, hence Deinking is simply removing the ink from the paper pulps.Generally speaking, recycled paper materials are either of the same quality as a new one, or may offer a bit lower than a manufactured paper out of new wood pulps. However, it's not actually a big deal to consider, especially if you're aiming to reduce paper waste and conserve natural resources particularly the trees. Besides, recycled papers nowadays are mostly compatible for printing purposes as well, just like using eco-friendly toner cartridges and ink cartridges.

To set the record straight about what's the real deal between the print industry and the environment, how printing affects the ecological system, as well as the environmental impacts of every print we made. Here are the revealing facts that we should know before you skeptically accuse the value of printing.

Many companies, not only the manufacturers in the Print Industry, are relying on printing technology. Indeed, there are negative impacts that had brought the environment to a not so well state due to improper printing practices, but it shouldn't always be the one to blame.

Let's start with one of it's commonly consumed material, which is paper. People have this common notion that using paper materials kill trees, I give it a check, but trees are renewable, thus it can be replaced. For a fact, in the United States alone, they managed to increase their trees population by up to 20% in comparison to the 1st Earth Day celebration way back 40 years ago (AF&PA). Private land owners in U.S. are planting trees everyday, 4 times the number of trees they harvest daily, and still continue to keep their land for forestry. The bottom line here is that, if you keep on wasting or using paper products, then might as well double or triple your effort on giving back what you got, plant trees more than what you consumed.

E-Books are very common nowadays which perhaps affects the industry of book publishing. Books are produced from paper materials and printing process, and if you think you're helping the environment by becoming an E-Reader, here's what you need to know. Paper productions require about 50-60% of energy which comes from renewable resources, take note of the word "renewable". Now with those E-Books, how are you supposed to access and read those? Through tablets, smartphones, mobile devices, etc., whatever you call it, still they all generally address as electronic wastes. Another question, how are you supposed to use an e-book reader unless it has a charge right? Do you think the power or energy that your devices consumed can be renewed, even so, the health effects and environmental effects of using such devices are more adverse than reading a book.

Electronic waste or what you call high-end devices, are made of plastics, metals, and a combination of minerals that are non-renewable, and can only be acquired through mining. Furthermore, most of these devices have only 60-80% of their components which can be recycled, the rest are dismantled, disposed and end up as land fillers. Whereas the supplies and consumables of a printer has a better rate of recyclability. Printer cartridges for example can be recycled for more than 4-5 times or more, these are called recycled toner cartridges and ink cartridges. They produce less carbon footprint compared to several electronic devices that unsafely and uncontrollably emitting carbon footprints which definitely harm the environment. 

To print or not to print? It's not a slogan nor a motto, it's  a question you should be asking to yourself every time you're about to make a print. Do you really need a copy of this, or is it that important that you really need a printed copy? Unless it's a business related document or file, say a report, of course you'll be needing a printer, but actually you can just save it to a storage device, bring it in the office and distribute it to everyone who will be coming to the meeting. However, not all companies or offices would suggest this idea as they would still prefer having a hard copy. But ideally, the one we suggested would be more convenient and efficient for a company and even to all its employees.

Bills and receipts likewise, can be access online through your account, instead of receiving monthly sheets of bills, why not consider paperless billing? A few stores in the U.S. are offering electronic receipts, which aids in the reduction of paper wastes. Besides, it would be nice to have a digital receipt if there are chances that you want to return a certain product.

If you're a coupon and discount fanatic, there are downloadable apps that you can get for free to save and view those coupons you gained. Instead of printing discount stubs and coupons, these applications will allow the user to view the coupon through their mobile devices, plus they keep you updated with the latest promo and offers from various brands and stores.

Make use of your handsets or tablets when making schedules and setting appointments. Digital memo is more ideal and efficient that arranging your schedule on a PC or laptop, print it and keep inside your bag, wallet or organizer. An organizer will do, but what we're trying to achieve is a paperless environment right, thus using sticky notes, memo pads, and organizers is a big no no.

In the event that you really need to print a certain document, file or whatever it is, make sure you have enough supplies of environment friendly products such as recycled paper or much better if you're using recycled toner cartridges and ink cartridges. Through these suggestions, you get to save your hard-earned money, and greatly help in saving our environment by doing all means and possibilities to reduce your own waste especially with your daily printing.

There are several ways and options to utilize a mobile device which will improve one's perspective and dedication to green living. Additionally, our today's technology is partly adjusting to at least diminish the negative impacts that many industries are generating. If you have a great idea to contribute, please let me know in the comments below.

Here's a very interesting fact that should be shared to everyone. Upon browsing the web I happened to stumble from a geek trivia asking "which comic book artist's ashes were mixed into ink then used to print comics?". I find in intriguing and honestly I wasn't able to answer it right, of course I have no idea who that man could be, and so I research about this honorable guy.

His name was Mark Gruenwald, a well known comic artist at Marvel comics. He started publishing his own fanzine in 1970, and was hired as an assistant editor on that same year. He's one of the creative artists of these famous comic books like Captain America, The Avengers, Thor, Spiderman and Ironman. Also, his pencil works were part of the The Incredible Hulk which is still a known story to kids until now. From being an assistant editor, he was then promoted as a senior editor after all his hard works, and he would oversee a few of the legendary stories that Marvel comics produced.

He died with a congenital heart defect in 1996 from where his career also ended. But before Gruenwald died, he insisted to be cremated and requested to let his ash remains mixed with the ink that will be used to print comics. His wish was granted  and in 1997, about the early season of summer, Marvel Comics printed graphic novel copy of the late Gruenwald's very own mini-series which is the Squadron Supreme. It was printed in Canton, Ohio printing facility using the ink from which the artist's ashes had been blended with.

It was such a naive wish from a great comic book artist to let his remains be blended with the masterpiece which was once he was doing when he's still alive. He became literally a part of the limited graphic novel copy of his own story and lives eternally with such honor.

Mark Gruenwald had leaved a mark in the history of comic book industry not only with his tremendously awesome works, but also with his real life story. We can also make our own history in simple ways. You see, Gruenwald loves his career and was also loved by many, and with his passion towards his job, he made an incredible yet honorable decision to contribute himself, not only his talent but his whole being in the industry where he lived. With this in mind and the current situation between the print industry and our environment, have you asked yourself what things could you possibly do to neutralize the problem? There are several options for us to consider, but it takes dedication and passion with the effort to aid in the sustainability. We can't just blend ourselves with the ink we used on our daily printing just like what he did, however, we can opt for what's more ideal and efficient alternatives such as eco-friendly toner cartridges and ink cartridges. Switch to green printing now, and become a part of the mark that it will leave in our history.