Tip on Avoiding Recklessly Using the Printer
May 7, 2008 by Peggy
Lots of you are voting on the new poll, Your Biggest Green Sin. There’s still plenty of time to vote, so check it out in the sidebar.
One of the sins mentioned in the poll is “recklessly use the printer.” That one hasn’t received any votes, yet I’m guessing we could all talk about our printer usage a bit.
I have a paper-few office.
What does that mean? I’ve heard the term paperless office tossed about a lot, but it’s an inaccurate title. Even “paperless” offices still send out paper bills sometimes. I wanted a more realistic term for my office.
My biggest paper saver has been the wonderful PDF.
Whenever I feel the urge to print something, about 98% of the time it’s possible to make a PDF instead and file it away on my desktop. I have a “PDFs of interest” folder with several subfolders. They include: writer’s guidelines, user agreements, recipes, press releases, order confirmations/receipts from online shopping, misc. reference, green topics, cat topics, jobs and more. I have other main folders with PDFs sprinkled in as well. For instance, I have PDFs of invoices in my freelance folder.
Most of the time I really don’t need to print that order confirmation for the coffee. But just in case, I make a PDF. I may or may not use that great cat article for reference, but I have a PDF saved just in case. See what I mean?
Another bonus of making PDFs instead of printing is that you don’t have a stack of paper to file away (and probably never use).
I’m on a Mac, but I don’t think making PDFs is much different for a PC. I just go to File, Print. Then drop down the PDF menu, and there’s my option to save as a PDF. Adobe is a popular software for reading and creating PDFs, but there are others — many of them free.
Do I print anything?
Yes, I print directions sometimes because I don’t want to make a mistake handwriting them, and I don’t have a GPS. Plus, I need all the help I can get in the directions category.
Also, I usually print a semi-final draft of articles or other longer writing to proofread. I was a professional proofreader for several years, yet I could never catch everything proofing online. It’s still that way for me. I’m not sure why that is since I can proofread my blog posts online. I never print those. Maybe it’s because articles are longer and I need to see them on paper to get a feel for moving things around.
I sometimes need to print contracts in order to sign them. But that’s it. My printer stays off for days at a time. I save some big bucks on ink cartridges. I don’t worry about backup either. I back everything up to an external hard drive. If my computer dies, I’m OK. If I have a fire, well… I need to keep a copy elsewhere I guess.
Do you have a system to avoid printing?