Printer Rentals Help Solve Schools’ Lean, Green Printing Problems

Colleges and schools across the country are beginning to better moderate their printer usage – so as to cut down on costs. While doing this, they are striving to simultaneously protect the environment.

The need for printers is still there, especially when it comes to areas like the liberal arts – but they are pricey, so educational institutions are trying to rely on fewer units. Of the printers they do plan to maintain in house, the most optimized efficiency possible is ideal.

This minimalizing strategy is a good way to save money – but it can leave a school short-handed if there is a sudden event or attendance surge that might require more printers on hand. Luckily, schools can always rent a printer should their circumstances change and they need fast results.

To address the other side of the efficiency coin (i.e. green printing), some schools are leading the way. Bucknell University’s, Lisa Hoover, its director of publications, print and mail, recently gave an interview on the changing printer environment.

According to Hoover, the digital revolution has a lot to do with the move towards lean, green printer policies. She said, “Bucknell updated its digital production printing equipment this past summer. That's part of the green printing revolution, too, because it's printing on demand. We are migrating away from printing large quantities and warehousing them.”

She added, “Many times, data would change and then those documents would become outdated and need to be recycled. We're moving toward printing only what we need for the moment and, if there's a change, reprints can happen pretty quickly.”

Cost efficiency transcends beyond what type of printer you use – according to Hoover, all of Bucknell’s stationary is printed on 100 percent recycled paper. And the university offers 100 percent recycled paper to any department that wants it for their regular printing needs.

And even the toner the university uses is environmentally friendly – it uses EA toner – which is otherwise known as “emulsion aggregation” toner. How can toner be green? Apparently, it’s quite technical. Hoover states that the toner takes up smaller particles and requires less energy to fuse onto paper.

Bucknell University now uses a water-based process for its printer needs – it no longer relies on chemical processes that proved harmful to the Earth.

Printer usage may be declining, but printer usage isn’t going anywhere anytime soon – a fact that educators from both the public and private sectors are recognizing. Leaner, cost-effective methods are required – and if the environment can be protected as a result, the world is all the better for it.

Printer rental companies offer high-end, green printers for a fraction of the cost to purchase. Schools with a more staggered budget can look at printer rentals or printers with rent to own lease options as a way to slowly migrate over into a policy that reflects what should be core, educational values: be fiscally responsible – and conserve resources.