Printing Efficiently and Greener

Minimising the environmental impacts of printing (EAUC)14 December 2010

• Buildings

• Energy and water

• Waste and recycling

• Biodiversity

• Transport

• Sustainable Procurement

• Fairtrade

Do the Green Thing

Key Impacts of ICT

Printing Efficiently and Greener

• £50k grant funding approved from JISC.

• Brought together Facilities, IT, Print Unit, Procurement, London South Bank University and Global Action Plan.

• Overall aim is to investigate how barrier to Green ICT can be overcome through cross-departmental working when implementing staff behavioural change programmes.

• Trialling printer consolidation from desktops to MFDs in a number of departments.

• Save energy, save resources and improve efficiency e.g. provide duplex function, scanning facilities.

Facts and figures

• Site audit surveyed 2108 desks and found:

- 788 imaging devices- 72% were desktop printers- 353 different models from 21 manufacturers

- Account for 70 tonnes CO2

- Energy costs approx £10k

• Spent over £58,000 on printer cartridges last year.

• Use 150 boxes of paper per week.

Consultative Approach

• Online staff survey with incentive – 18% response rate.

• Questions around printing behaviours, opinions on changing to MFDs and general environmental support.

• Followed by two focus groups to further understand knowledge, attitudes and behaviours around staff printing.

What Staff Say

• Generally want better information e.g. on recycling facilities, how to duplex etc.

• Reliable equipment, no queues, backup in case of technical problems.

• Confidentiality, monitoring of volumes, duplex, colour, scanning and fax facilities.

• Training on more efficient printing methods.

    

Implementation

• Chosen three trial departments.

• Identified environmental champions.

• Senior-level support.

• Needs analysis for best solution.

• Communication is key!

• Higher level technical support.

• Emphasise benefits.

Lessons learned

• Cross departmental working can be challenging – engagement and communication is key!

• Don’t take the technical solution for granted – this can be just as complex as the behavioural change campaign.

• Identifying risks isn’t enough, as much as possible must be done to reduce them.

• Perseverance is essential!

Do the Green Thing

Sara Kassam

Energy & Environment Manager

s.kassam@uel.ac.uk 020 8223 4047

www.uel.ac.uk/greenthing