Archive for the ‘Recycling and the Environment’ Category

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It’s as good a time as any to go Green!

It’s hard to come up with a “new” list of tips for making your home and office more environmentally friendly; most tips are and have been posted thousands of times.

But we suppose the value comes in simply repeating the mantra as often as possible, to yourself and your colleagues in the hopes that eventually, the suggestions will sink in and the routine will begin.
Continue reading “Tips for Going Green for St. Patrick’s Day!” »

One good turn deserves another, so we’re re-blogging part of Forbes’ Jessica Bosari’s article mentioning our ink and toner recycling efforts!

Rein in Your Printing Expenses Printer cartridges are expensive and environmentally-unfriendly. In fact, Xerox asserts that from 1991-2008 the company recycled 2 billion pounds of spent toner cartridges.   Whether you use an old-fashioned ink jet or a fancy new laser printer, you’re probably not happy with your current printing costs. Fortunately, most cartridge manufacturers and retailers participate in cartridge recycling programs. These serve dual purposes: They can reduce your ink or toner costs and may keep millions of non-biodegradable cartridges out of the country’s landfills each year. There are a few different ways to recycle your ink toner for great results. Major office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot offer in-store rebates of $2 to $3 per used cartridge. Dedicated cartridge wholesalers offer even more robust programs that permit business owners to exchange their unusable cartridges for an equal number of freshly-recycled devices.

Continue reading “Traditional Spending Habits That Can Drive Your Small Business into the Ground” »

But it ain’t all that hard either:

The push for greener initiatives in the workplace has certainly gained steam through the years.  Companies like Starbucks began offering two slots (one for compost and another for recycling) for customers to dispose of their latte and baguette wrapper.  Then there’s tennis shoe companies like Brooks unveiling fully biodegradable shoes (the BioMoGo), that once placed in a properly encapsulated landfill, will naturally degrade in 20 years, as opposed to the 1,000 years it takes for a traditional shoe.

Other major industries such as Dell have significantly reduced their carbon footprint with their products, by crafting laptops and desktops that use 25 percent less energy.  Truth is, whether it’s offering more eco-friendly products or charting a course for patrons and employees to recycle, the green awareness is there.

Continue reading “It Ain’t Easy Being Green” »

Toner cartridge recycling is important.  Super important.  While most people probably understand that cartridge recycling is a good thing to do, we still see half a billion cartridges showing up at landfill sites each year.  At Ink Technologies, we take toner recycling very seriously; so much in fact that we maintain our own free recycling program, and feel that it’s crucial that we all take a moment to appreciate how serious (and easily solved) this problem could be.

Do your part to help out by recycling your own cartridges, and spreading the word to others.  We’ve created this wonderfully detailed visual aid as a way to help you get the word out tastefully.

Continue reading “Recycle Your Toner Cartridges! [Infographic]” »

There are nearly 2 billion ink cartridges sold each year, with an estimated 350 million ending up in landfills. This is not only harmful from the perspective of the extra waste in landfills, but also in that it takes up to 5 ounces of oil to manufacture a new cartridge. By recycling your ink and toner cartridges, you can not only keep them from ending up in a landfill, but also contribute to remanufacturing programs that can help eliminate much of the waste involved in manufacturing brand new cartridges.

A number of different organizations and even printer manufacturers themselves offer programs that make it easy for users to recycle their empty cartridges, and some can even help you contribute to charity as you do it. Here are a few recycling programs you can take advantage of: Continue reading “Printer Cartridge Recycling Programs” »

A new and innovative development has recently been introduced into the world of laser printing by a company known as Print Recovery Concepts, Inc. Though known mostly for being a vendor of affordable, third party toner cartridges in the past, they now offer toner that comes from soy beans rather than the typical oil-based product. Though soy ink has been around for a while, this is one of the first instances of soy toner, but it certainly will not be the last. Continue reading “Printing ‘Green’ with SoyPrint” »

Printing is a part of most people’s lives, personal and/or professional.  It is a booming industry in a flailing economy, but supply and demand keep a place reserved in the budget for printing products.

There are a few ways to optimize the dollar for printing, such as seeking reputable third-party vendors who reuse recycled cartridges or build compatible cartridges from scratch, equating to a cost 3-5 times less than OEM cartridges made by the manufacturer of the printer.

What about a way to reduce the frequency of which replacement cartridges are needed?  That would be a good option for your budget as well as the environment!

Different printing modes are available on every printer.  These modes basically represent ‘quality over quantity’ to ‘quantity over quality’.  Each make and model may refer to these modes by different names, but in general, inkjet users can expect to see Fast or Draft, Normal and Best, while laser users may see different resolutions listed (the higher, the slower), EconoMode or TonerSave mode.

Various types of documents require different levels of quality.  For instance, when you are printing highly complex graphics for work, you want to be sure to use the most detailed mode available.  But just printing some recipes or directions or a flight itenerary, the same quality is not required.  This is when you would switch to Draft, EconoMode or TonerSave mode, which can be done through the Print screen, allowing you to change the mode every time you print something.

That screen will look something like this:

Continue reading “Print Quality Modes” »

Just about every printer owner would like to save money, and the availability of refill kits for toner cartridges might make you consider refilling them yourself instead of purchasing new ones. While the cost-savings might seem appealing, there are a few dangers involved that you should be aware of. Here are a few of the dangers of refilling toner yourself: Continue reading “Dangers of Refilling Toner Yourself” »

It is obvious that recycling is a good thing, yet so many people don’t do it.  The extra effort is minimal considering the countless advantages.  The environment is not the only thing that will benefit from recycling, and perhaps that is what so many Americans have failed to realize.  Is Global Warming something to be concerned about?  Sure.  But if it is not affecting our present lives, many people are uninterested. Perhaps the solution is to understand the importance of recycling ink cartridges in a way that seems relevant to each individual. Continue reading “Ink Cartridge Recycling” »

Installing Xerox solid ink is a simple, straight-forward process that Xerox has made virtually error-proof.  You would have to try hard to install solid ink sticks incorrectly, as it would often involve forcing them into place.

First, a quick synopsis of solid ink:  Unlike with inkjet and laser printers, there are no cartridges involved in the printing process using solid ink.  Rather, the ink is hardened and sculpted into a very specific shape during manufacturing.  When printing, these ink sticks are melted into a liquid and applied to the paper, where they dry with true color and smooth texture.  When the block of ink  is completely consumed, there is no cartridge or other waste left behind. Continue reading “How to Install Solid Ink” »