It may seem like common sense, but as Voltaire pointed out, ‘common sense is often rare’.
As posted back in 2019, on average, a person consumes more than 4 trees per year.
Get more for your budget!
Print is important. The format of what we print is important. How it’s graphically designed and reproduced can add value (BPIF Stats).
However, over time, print costs to large organisations can be significant.
In a large organisation, if we all just printed a tad more thoughtfully, we could save thousands over a year.
Print in black & white.
Printing in colour costs ~10 times that of printing in mono.
If 100 colour clicks = £10*, then 100 mono clicks = ~£1
(plus the cost of paper etc)
If you need a bit of bling, then mono print on coloured paper is still cheaper than colour print.
Print smaller, half your costs!
Printing your page as two pages per A4 page, or an A5 booklet can reduce paper and print costs even further!
For example, print as multiple pages/slides per page if possible. Just ask for it as two or even four per A4 page, or an A5 booklet.
If 100 A4 clicks = £10* then 50 A4 clicks (2 per page) = £5
(plus the cost of paper etc)
Try to think about costs. Where possible, make it mono and seek to use paper economically.
*Any prices shown are just for illustration.
Another thing worth considering…
A4 rather than A3 paper.
A pack of A3 paper costs >15% more than two packs of A4 paper**.
While A3 folded to A4 booklets;
- are useful to emulate actual exam booklets,
- can keep work bound better (up to 80pages/sides at a push)
Arguably, - A4 sheets are easier to open/mark for general use, and more importantly cost less.
So, if A4 stapled will be sufficient, please DON’T ask for folded booklets. Is A4 stapled top left, or A4 two-stapled sufficient?
(Remember, folded booklets need to be a multiple of 4 pages, 10 pages as a booklet, has 2 blank sides.)
The costs do mount up over time.
A ream of A3 paper costs significantly more than two reams of A4.
**Market Demand: Because A4 is the standard size for everyday printing, it is mass-produced at higher volumes. A3 is used less frequently, meaning economies of scale slightly favour A4 pricing when purchasing in bulk. Suppliers purchase such large quantities of A4 from the mill, negotiating substantially better pricing, spreading costs across a larger volume of stock. A3 demand is much lower, the mill does not achieve the same production efficiencies, and suppliers don’t have such purchasing power. So, unit cost for A3 remains noticeably higher.
*Any prices shown are just for illustration.
Jules P Richards 