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Stop printing money, start saving money

  • Published
  • By Tyler Grimes
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Even you can play a part helping the Air Force save millions of dollars a year and have a positive environmental impact right from your own desk.

Sounds crazy, but officials here say it's true: by making a few changes in the steps you click on when sending a document to print from your computer, you can do your share to ensure every dollar counts, and maybe be a hero with your resources chief.

"We all can do our part to ensure we use the resources we already have more efficiently every day," said Col. Brian Lindsey, Air Mobility Command chief of Air Force Smart Operations. "By doing this, we demonstrate good stewardship of what the American people entrust to us."

According to a recent report from the General Services Administration, the federal government could save more than $330 million dollars on printing costs by 2015 through the implementation of seven easy steps:

1. Print on both sides of the page.

By printing on two sides, users can reduce the amount of paper by up to 50 percent.

2. Use black and white instead of color.

This will reduce the need to replace costlier color ink and toner cartridges.

3. Print in "draft" quality.

"Draft" quality can cut 20 percent of toner costs while producing good enough quality for most uses.

4. Use toner-efficient fonts.

By using the Times New Roman, Garamond and Century Gothic fonts in Microsoft Word, you can contribute to a government-wide savings of $30 million annually. According to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency, a study from the University of Wisconsin showed that these three fonts are the thinnest fonts available. While still being easy to read, these thin fonts use less ink and toner than most others.

5. Remove individual printers in favor of office printers.

Each personal printer increases energy costs by about $30 a year. By eliminating these personal printers, users also can help the environment by reducing emissions equal to 475 cars in one year.

6. Enable the sleep mode on your printers.

Setting your printers to go into sleep mode when not in use and turning them off on the weekends can eliminate 50,000 cars-worth of CO2 emissions, while also significantly reducing energy costs.

7. Avoid replacing individual printers in favor of shared workgroup printers.

This step can help the government save up to $10 million per year, with the average cost of a personal printer around $140 each.

Following these seven steps outlined by the GSA can help all of us save a little money--and it all adds up.