Our campus annually spends between $120,000 and $250,000 a year on ink and toner for university owned individual printers. Ink and toner cartridges for smaller printers are wasteful and harmful to the environment when not recycled or disposed of correctly. Since the vast majority of faculty and staff have easy access to a departmentally supported printer or multifunction device (printing, scanning and faxing in one), we’re challenging everyone to give up their personal printers, print less, and make the switch to efficient printers this Earth Day.
Make the switch to a multifunction device
- CU Boulder has Xerox and Konica multifunction devices, or MFDs, available to faculty and staff in most workspaces across campus.
- These MFDs can be easily configured to release print jobs when the person who printed them enters a PIN on the touchpad, ensuring the confidentiality of print jobs.
- Check with your department’s printing administrator to learn more about using MFDs available to you.
Turn in your personal printer April 18-22
- Drop off your printer at the Computing Center at 3645 Marine Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 18 through 22.
- Just give a wave to the person at the front desk who will unlock the front door and take your printer.
- Turned-in printers will then be disposed of according to campus policies through Property Services. Please note, the university can only recycle individual printers that are owned by the university.
Want to do more?
CU Boulder’s Environmental Center has a host of resources and practices to help make your office more sustainable.
