Print wisely

This week we will be considering how we can reduce our paper usage
It is calculated that one ream of paper (500 sheets) uses about 5% of a tree, that is to say if your office/church uses 20 packets of photocopying paper you have cut down one tree. So how can we reduce our paper usage.?

Here are a few hints

Think before you print or order.
It is simply too easy to push the print-button. For example, much paper is wasted by printing out single line emails or printing out unnecessary copies of documents. Departments should carefully assess their needs before ordering bulk print copies of information materials, like annual reports or brochures. In many cases hundreds if not thousands of un-used copies end up in storage rooms clogging up storage space

Print on both sides
If it is necessary to print make sure you print on both sides (duplex). This is a really easy way to reduce paper consumption by half. Set defaults on computers Set defaults on the photocopyer to double sided – select one-sided printing only when really needed.

Change your settings
Change your computer’s default settings so that you can put more text on each page. In MS Word, go to File, then to Page Setup. Then choose Reduce the Margins and set your margins to smaller numbers. Compared to the normal settings, you could use up to 14% less paper! When you are printing, reduce font size to 10 point to decrease the amount of paper required.
Use efficient fonts like Times New Roman or Arial –these fonts use significantly less space

Don’t print the whole document!
Print only the pages you need by using the “Print Selection’ function

Remind your colleagues
Post in-house reminders near the copy machine or at individual desktops. Use catchy slogans, for example: “Do you really need to print that?” or “Do you know how many sheets of paper you used last month?” WWF has created some eye-catching posters with such messages. Download at www.panda.org/savepaper

Excel files
Use the Fit to Page feature in Microsoft Excel: This feature automatically re-scales output to print evenly on one or several pages. Let’s assume you have a spreadsheet that’s 10 columns wide, but when you used Print Preview it shows that nine columns will be printed on one page and one column on the next page. Sounds like a reformatting nightmare, but there is a simple solution: Just use the Fit to Page feature. From the File Menu, select Page Setup, then select Scaling-Fit to. You can force the document to print out on a single page or multiple pages in a specific width or length