{"id":28284,"date":"2017-02-07T10:17:52","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T02:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=28284"},"modified":"2017-02-07T14:07:29","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T06:07:29","slug":"save-cost-world-office-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/save-cost-world-office-printing","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways You Can Save Cost (And The World) On Your Office Printing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"in<\/p>\n

Cutting cost and maximising profit often go hand-in-hand in a business. Expenses can have a huge impact on a business\u2019s bottom line, but there are some cost-cutting efforts that have a longer-lasting effect \u2013 not just on the company\u2019s operating expenses.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways for a company to be more efficient in managing office expenses is to look at how efficient the printing process is.<\/p>\n

According to Thanam Industry<\/a>, a recycling company in Kuala Lumpur, 20 reams of A4-sized paper is equivalent to chopping down a tree.<\/p>\n

In Malaysia, over 57,000 tonnes of paper are being thrown into landfills every month. This is the same as chopping down 680,000 marketable-size trees every month. To make matters worse, paper recovery is not being done at the same rate. There are 250,000 tonnes of newsprint in a year, but only 100,000 tonnes are being recycled and recovered.<\/p>\n

On top of driving the cost of running an office up, indiscriminate wasting of paper has a negative impact on our environment.<\/p>\n

There are many ways a business can do its part in preserving the environment and at the same time cut on expenses. With the following measures in place for office printing, a business will not just successful manage the cost, it will also reduce its carbon footprint.<\/p>\n

<\/span>1) Print on both sides<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

According to World Wide Fund\u2019s (WWF)<\/em><\/a> data, a company of 5,000 employees that uses double-sided printing for only 10% of its printing could save up to US$260,000. That\u2019s close to RM1.2 million (as of January 2017 at 4.4594 against USD)!<\/p>\n

WWF uses Citigroup as an example on how much a company can save by just simply practising double-sided copying. By just conserving one sheet of paper each week, it is estimated that the company would save US$700,000 (RM3,121,089.79) each year.<\/p>\n

A ream of A4-sized paper with 450 to 500 sheets of paper cost about RM9.00 to RM14.90. Here\u2019s how you can save 50% of that cost by printing on both sides of the paper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
<\/td>
Single side printing<\/center><\/td>
Double-sided printing<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total pages printed in a month<\/td>
500 pages<\/center><\/td>
500 pages<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total paper used in a month<\/td>
500 sheets<\/center><\/td>
250 sheets<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cost per month<\/td>
Estimated cost RM12.00<\/center><\/td>
Estimated cost RM6.00<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

When you multiply this by the number of employees, departments and printers the costs can escalate quite rapidly so a 50% savings is huge.<\/p>\n

<\/span>2) Squeeze the margin<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Every millimetre counts when it comes to saving paper and ink. If you work in an office that regularly has to print out documents from Microsoft Word, here\u2019s a nifty trick that will save you some paper \u2013 and money!<\/p>\n

By reducing your page margin \u2013 the white space around your page \u2013 you could use up to 14% less paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To do that on Microsoft Word, go to \u201cPage Layout\u201d, then click on \u201cMargins\u201d. Then you can either select the pre-set margins, or customise the size. \u201cNarrow\u201d and \u201cModerate\u201d have smaller margins than the \u201cNormal\u201d setting. You can customise the margin by selecting \u201cCustom Margin\u201d and set your margins to smaller numbers.<\/p>\n

<\/span>3) Use the most efficient fonts <\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman? Choosing the right font to use in your document makes a difference in your cost.<\/p>\n

A less efficient font would use more ink, which results in a longer print job and higher electricity usage. So not only you will be paying more for ink, you will be paying more for electricity too in the long run.<\/p>\n

It is also bad for the environment to use more ink because the discarded ink containers create plastic and metal waste. This will cause more CO2<\/sub> emissions and increasing your carbon footprint. This is also why you should choose a printer that uses environmental-friendly ink containers (more on this in point #5).<\/p>\n

The best font recommended by Consumer Reports<\/em><\/a> is Times New Roman, which results in 27% more ink mileage. Though Arial used to be the default font for Microsoft Office, both Calibri and Century Gothic outperformed it.<\/p>\n

So the next time you are about to hit print, check your font and change it to a more efficient one.<\/p>\n

<\/span>4) Switch to lightweight paper<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Thicker paper may look and feel nicer, but it is not really necessary to use thicker paper most of the time.<\/p>\n

When the Bank of America<\/em><\/a> reduced the weight of its ATM receipt paper, it recorded an estimated savings of US$500,000 each year, including savings on storage, handling, transportation and labour.<\/p>\n

Five hundred sheets of 80gsm paper cost about RM1.40 more compared to 70gsm paper. If your company uses 100 reams of paper every month, you will be burning RM140 every month for no reason. That\u2019s RM1,680 a year!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how much you can save on cost, according to WWF<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n