It is no secret that one of the easiest ways to save your business money is to run more efficiently. This applies to all aspects of your business, but the printer and copier fleet is commonly overlooked. Many companies simply track the cost of toner, and that can yield a large amount of savings on its own. But the savings can go much beyond toner alone. Managed Print Services (MPS) paired with eco-friendly; super efficient printers, can save money on paper, energy, toner, reduced downtime, increased productivity and more.
MPS, like the name implies; basically means you rely on a specialized IT company to help plan, implement and service your printer fleet. The advantage of having your printing network planned and managed by one vendor is that it saves a substantial amount of time fixing IT problems, ordering toner and implementing new document management systems. Imagine never having to order toner and the time saved by only having one invoice to deal with every month; now this is being efficient.
Another way of being more efficient is choosing an eco-friendly printer fleet. Eco-friendly printers, such as Kyocera, can save up to 40% on energy costs when compared to other market leaders. They can also save you money on consumables. Using less toner and drum units reduces money and waste while helping the environment. The reduced waste is one reason Kyocera won the prestigious, MicroScope Award for Channel Excellence (ACE) as Environmental Company of the Year in 2008.
It isn’t only about reduced waste; it is also about reduced downtime. Nothing costs a company more money than downtime. When it comes to reliability, not all brands are created equal. For instance, the Kyocera KM-8030 printed 2 million pages with no unscheduled service required. In fact, it only got a paper jam once every 166 thousand pages. Brands like Kyocera are more reliable and have reduced cost per prints which is why H&R Block has 10’s of thousands of them nationwide.
Finally, if you really want to increase your savings and decrease your impact on the environment, implement a document management system. Even the simplest document management systems will reduce paper and toner consumption and increase productivity. Document management will reduce the time spent on filing and retrieving documents and make documents more accessible – no matter where you and your employees are.
The opportunity to save money and help the environment is obtainable. Even if your business’ printers are new and you believe you have an efficient printer fleet having an outside MPS vendor may help you see the base of the iceberg more clearly. Many times a MPS provider will analyze your network and printer fleet for free resulting in little to no risk of saving your business money.
By: Josh C
Archive for October, 2009
Going Green, and Saving Green, With Managed Print Services
October 30th, 2009The U.s. Environmental Protection Agency’s Watersense Program Attracts Plumbing Retailers Who Want to Make a Difference in the Environment
October 28th, 2009The WaterSense partnership program makes it easy for Americans to save water and protect the environment by helping consumers identify water-efficient, high-performing plumbing products they can buy for their homes. The exciting water-efficiency program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is partnering with manufacturers, retailers and distributors, utilities, state and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, trade associations, irrigation professionals, and professional certifying organizations to bring water-efficient products to market and spread the word about the need for smart water use.
DesignerPlumbingOutlet.com, a virtual store for kitchen and bathroom fixtures, fittings and accessories is one of nearly 70 retailers who have become a partner with WaterSense. As a partner of the WaterSense program, DPO displays the WaterSense label on quality, water-efficient products certified to meet EPA criteria that are found on the site. Most of these items are bathroom sink faucets and high-efficiency toilets that are designed to save water.
“We feel it’s our duty to offer our customers a distinct “greener” choice when purchasing faucets and toilets from DPO,” said Founder and CEO Eric Strand. “By joining WaterSense and enabling the “eco friendly” search option on our site, we are giving customers the tools and knowledge to purchase the most water-efficient products available in this marketplace.”
The WaterSense label indicates that these products have been independently tested by third-party laboratories to meet EPA’s water-efficiency and performance criteria. In addition, customers can be confident that the products will all perform well and may help them save money in the long run. Designer Plumbing Outlet carries many plumbing manufacturers who are WaterSense partners: American Standard, Delta, Grohe, Hansgrohe, Danze, Moen, and Price Pfister.
The WaterSense partnership is one of two steps DPO has taken to become eco friendly and help customers choose water-efficient products. In addition to joining the WaterSense program, DPO has enabled an “eco friendly” search option on the website so customers can sort the wide variety of faucets, toilets and showerheads found on DPO, that are not WaterSense labeled, but are deemed “green” by their manufacturers, through an “eco friendly” search option.
According to WaterSense, the average American household uses about 100,000 gallons of water in a year, and 11,000 gallons of that are unnecessarily wasted each year due to inefficient toilets and faucets. If every inefficient toilet in the United States was replaced by a WaterSense labeled model, it would save 640 billion gallons of water.
WaterSense partner Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) demonstrates that it can be done. Through aggressive water conservation programs, SPU decreased water consumption in and around Seattle, Washington, by 24 percent since 1990, while in the same period the region’s population grew by 11 percent.
To achieve these savings, SPU targeted its efficiency measures on residential indoor fixtures, residential landscapes, commercial processes, and commercial landscapes. In particular, the program offered rebates or free toilets to upgrade older, inefficient toilets, as well as rebates for water-using appliances, urinals, pre-rinse spray heads, and other equipment. More recently, the region launched a pilot program for water-efficient showerheads. These incentives combined with non-incentive efforts—such as mass media messaging, direct mailings, new outreach materials, and Web sites—helped make the 1% Water Conservation Program a success.
SPU understands that water efficiency plays a key role in any strong municipal water conservation program, so joining WaterSense was an obvious choice. SPU Water Conservation Program Leader Al Dietemann explains, “WaterSense adds consistency with products, messaging, and marketing, and provides utilities with identical criteria to ensure a clear and concise message is conveyed to customers.”
In fall 2007, SPU launched a campaign featuring a TV ad encouraging consumers to purchase WaterSense labeled or FlushStar toilets. SPU also included an article in the utility’s newsletter that reaches up to 300,000 customers and shared point-of-purchase materials with retailers.
Further south in Cobb County, Georgia, government leaders launched a toilet rebate program in October 2007, coinciding with the day its water district declared Drought Level 4, the most severe classification. Since that time, Cobb County has issued 1,128 rebates for WaterSense labeled toilets and 2,048 rebates for 1.6-gallon-per-flush (gpf) toilets, saving the county an estimated 31.4 million gallons of water per year and easing the strain on municipal water supplies.
Cobb County’s rebate program soon achieved even greater influence when the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District adopted the program for the entire district, which includes Atlanta, 16 counties, and more than 60 water utilities. As a result, the program now targets more than 2 million customers.
Customers stand to benefit, too. Rebate participants are saving approximately $70.50 per year by reducing 10,000 gallons of water per household per year. The tiered rebate program credits customers’ water bills directly: $50 for 1.6-gpf toilets and $100 for WaterSense labeled toilets (less than 1.3 gpf). Cobb County Water System initially included 1.6-gpf toilets until WaterSense labeled models became more readily available. County officials hope to phase out rebates for 1.6-gpf toilets by the end of 2009.
Effective outreach has been crucial to Cobb County’s success in bringing WaterSense labeled toilets to the region. Early on, Cobb County contacted major retailers, including Home Depot and Lowe’s to encourage them to stock the toilets on its rebate list. To increase demand for WaterSense labeled toilets, the county educated consumers through its Web site and numerous public presentations. This allowed consumers one-on-one time to discuss the rebate program and WaterSense labeled toilets, which also built brand recognition. The media also drove home the water-efficiency message in print, radio, and television. By effectively building a market base and a steady supply of WaterSense labeled toilets in the area, Cobb County ensured its rebate program would have a significant impact and bring real change to the region.
Kathy Nguyen, water-efficiency program manager for Cobb County Water System, relates the success of the rebate program to the WaterSense label, saying, “WaterSense has made it easy for us by providing tools and resources to use for our rebate program. We’ve also found value in utilizing a national brand with consistent messaging, which makes it easier for our customers to identify products that are third-party certified for water efficiency and performance.”
By: Michelle Luke
Waste Management and Recycling
October 28th, 2009Concern over our environment has seen a massive increase in recycling globally which has grown to be an important part of modern civilization. As a society we manage to produce a vast amount of materials that are just thrown away, waste management is the collection of these materials in order to recycle them and as a result decrease their effects on our health, our surroundings and the environment. Practices in waste management are different the world over, dependant on certain issues such as how developed the nation is, if it is a city or rural area and so on. The management of waste is not only the responsibility of governments and the manufacturer, but also an individual’s duty. Waste management is an issue that has to be dealt with daily in order to control the huge amounts of waste currently passing through our towns and cities.
Australia is one such country that is giving attention and priority to how it handles its waste, and this has resulted in the emergence of companies offering environmental services for resource recovery and recycling. To reduce the impacts of waste and unwanted resources on the environment it is important to educate the populace about waste items and how they can be processed or recycled.
There are several resource recovery systems in place and facilities that have been developed to deal with these issues. Natural recovery systems make use of of food, organic and green waste and are then dealt with in in-vessel compost systems, whilst materials collected for recycling include glass, plastic bags, metals and paper. Automated and manual methods are used to sort materials from construction sites, such as brick, tiles and concrete and after being sorted are re-used for road base and construction materials. E-waste (electronic waste) comes from items such as old computers which are taken apart in order to recover materials like cabling, aluminium, copper, glass and plastics. Bioreactor landfills are deployed to generate green energy through the capturing of biogas from municipal waste. There is also help provided for councils to award innovative technologies which can be used to recover recyclables.
We can all help out when it comes to waste management and recycling in Australia. It may not seem effective to recycle products as a household, but put all those households together and you will produce a result. It is each person’s responsibility to do what they can to conserve resources, reduce landfill volumes and produce new materials using less energy. Some cities in developed nations keep a record of their resource recovery systems in order to identify if they are working effectively, evaluate them and update them if necessary, this information can then be passed onto other areas or nations to help them in the recycle challenge. Deciding to recycle is a simple step and surprisingly easy to start. If you are unsure where to begin there are lots of resources, including the local environmental sector, who will be eager to teach you how to recycle your leftover waste and check on the internet too for information.
By: Michiel Van Kets
