Students Show How University Could Reduce Paper & Ink Costs by 39% or More

Students in the Sustainable Business class at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock completed a research project to identify ways the university could become more "green" and environmentally-friendly in printing practices and paper purchases while also saving money. The College of Business was used as the students' case example.

The students explored several green printing practices and ultimately made the recommendation that the College switch to 30% recycled paper, change default printer margins to 0.75" on all College computers, install PaperCut printer management software on all College computers, change default settings on all printers and copiers to duplex (double-sided copies), and install EcoFont as the default font on all computers.

The combined impact of these recommendations implemented in unison would reduce the College's paper and ink purchases and result in at least a 39% cost savings over current methods; this would require the purchase of 151 cases of paper (instead of the current 251 cases) and 26 laser ink cartridges and toner (instead of the current 30 cartridges). The environmental benefits of implementing these recommendations would be

• 87.3 trees saved,


• 11.3 tons of wood saved,


• 16,659 pounds of CO2 emissions prevented,


• 57,753.6 gallons of water saved,


• 33,449.9 kilowatts of electricity saved, and


• 6,985.7 pounds of solid waste prevented.

This project was completed by Amila Barakovic, Brigitte Armato, Chris Watson, Erica Griffin, William Tarter, and Anita Ojeda under the direction of Dr. N. Landrum.