Reduce Waste
Whether cutting back on the amount of paper you use or cutting back the thermostat, the little things you do around the office can make a big difference. Here are just a few ideas to help reduce the amount of paper waste you generate.
Tips for Reducing Paper Waste
Keep Files Digital
Use Print Preview
Duplex Print
Print a Multiple Page Document on One Sheet of Paper
Adjust Margin Widths, Line Spacing, and Font Size
Use Spell Check
Use "Shrink to Fit" When Printing from the Web
Print Multiple PowerPoint Slides per Page
Print in Draft Mode to Save Ink
Keep Files Digital
If you don't absolutely need a hard copy, keep files digital. Save class notes and e-reserves on high capacity, low cost removable media such as compact discs or flash drives.
Use Print Preview
It may sound simple, but using the Print Preview feature before printing a document could reduce waste by as much as 12%. Before you print, make sure the document is laid out the way you want it to be, and adjust margins to fit your text onto fewer pages. When using Excel, adjust column widths or use the Page Break view to help eliminate excess printing.
Duplex Print
If the document needs to be printed on clean paper, print on both sides. If your printer duplexes, simply set it up to do this with every print job. If not, you can still print the odd pages, flip over the pages and run them through the printer again to print the even pages. A document that is double-spaced and copied on one side uses four times as much paper as one that is single-spaced and duplexed.
Print a Multiple-Page Document on One Sheet of Paper
- On the File menu, click Print.
- Under Zoom , click the option you want in the Pages per sheet box.
For example, to print a four-page document on one sheet, click 4 pages.
Adjust Margin Widths, Line Spacing, and Font Size
Adjust margin widths, line spacing, and font size to reduce the number of pages you need to print. A document that is double-spaced and copied on one side uses four times as much paper as one that is single-spaced and duplexed.
Use Spell Check
Save time and paper by using the
Spell Check feature in Word before printing a final draft of your document. However, if you do notice a grammar error in your final draft, instead of reprinting the whole document narrow the print range to include only those pages that you corrected.
Use "Shrink to Fit" When Printing from the Web
If only a small amount of text appears on the last page of a short document, you may be able to reduce the number of pages by clicking
Shrink to Fit in print preview. This feature works best with documents that contain only a few pages. You can undo a Shrink to Fit operation by clicking
Undo Shrink to Fit on the
Edit menu. However, after you save the document and close it, there is no quick way to restore the original font size.
Print Multiple PowerPoint Slides per Page
- Open the presentation in Blackboard.
- Right click on the Presentation window and click Print from the context menu that appears.
- Choose Handouts under Print What.
- Under Handouts , select the number of Slides per page. Then print in the normal way.
Print in Draft Mode to Save Ink
- Choose Options from the Tools menu.
- Word displays the Options dialog box. Make sure the Print tab is selected.
- In the Printing Options area of the dialog box, make sure the Draft Output check box is selected.
- Click on OK .
