5 ways to make inkjet cartridges last longer

Let’s face it, ink cartridges aren’t cheap! Buying ink cartridges is the biggest expense overall of having and using a printer. In order to save on costs, you can try to extend the life of your inkjet cartridge so that you have to buy less per year.

Refill: A normal ink cartridge does well with 3-4 refills. That will drastically increase the life of the inkjet cartridge! You can get inexpensive ink refills at office supply stores or online. This one step alone will improve the life of your inkjet cartridge rather than throwing it away after its initial uses.

Increase black/white printing: Since it is cheaper to refill, try to cut down on the amount of color used in your printing. This is especially true when printing documents or standard correspondence. If you do not need the color ink, do not use it. That way you will only have to replace the black ink, generally.

Cut down on printer use: Consider how many times you or an employee is copying and printing something that could be saved onto the computer. This is a huge waste of paper and ink. Give a small tutorial to your employees about organizing files on their computers and saving more documents than they print! This is simply a matter of changing habits. It may take a while, but with constant reinforcement, it can be done.

Keep it clean: Cleaning the print cartridge frequently can prevent ink and dust from building up which reduce the life of the cartridge. By doing this, you may also extend the refill capacity of your cartridges allowing you to get in an extra refill before you have to discard the cartridge. You may also want to run a cleaning program.

Check expiration dates: Avoid buying cartridges that are about to expire. It is not only the expiration date for the cartridge, but normally the date after which you should not try to refill. Give yourself as much time as possible with every cartridge you buy. Don’t buy too much bulk at one time if you have larger offices. Remember, don’t buy after the expiration date, and try not to refill after the expiration date; it does make a difference. By taking too many chances with the cartridge you could be taking a chance with your entire printer. That can really add up!

5 ways to increase paper recycling in offices

Literally tons of paper is thrown out every day by the businesses of America and the UK. While many businesses have good intentions, implementing a system that works isn’t always easy. You can improve your recycling efforts with some determination and planning. Here are five ways to increase paper and ink cartridge recycling in offices:

Educate: Habits are hard to break and that is no different for your employees. You must first educate them on the importance of recycling paper and then continuously remind them of it. You cannot expect to just make a general announcement and have it all fall into place. That isn’t going to happen.

Initiate: Start by having a plan and being the first one to start using it. Clearly label recycling bins and begin placing them in the office. Start with your own office and start the ball rolling. Keep a list of reminders clearly posted so your employees are reminded of the recycling effort. It won’t catch on right away, but getting started is the first step. Get the bins out there and noticed. It’s all a matter of changing habits.

Delegate: You may want to start with your maintenance crew in your recycling effort. They are the one’s who will be ultimately responsible for picking up the waste and recycling baskets. Your efforts can start there until your entire crew catches on to the idea. Have your maintenance crew do as much separating and sorting as possible without making it a full time job in itself. You may want to contact your hauling company. Often they will give in house instructions on recycling to your maintenance crew.

Regulate: Give and receive feedback on the recycling program. Make spot checks occasionally and offer constructive ways your employees can remember to recycle. Keep selling the recycling idea in memos, newsletters, emails, and whatever else you can think of to keep the idea of recycling a constant one. Appoint recycling managers to help you keep the incentive going. Changing habits takes time, and cooperation.

Celebrate: Offer your employees some incentive for their recycling efforts. This doesn’t have to be anything huge, even recognition would be nice. Let employees know you appreciate and are willing to acknowledge their efforts in recycling. You could organize some small contests. People love contests, and if it helps ingrain the thought and habit of recycling, why not utilize it. Make it a team effort and reward those who participate in the effort.

5 Tips That Make Your Laser Printer Cheaper To Run

Weighing cost against the amount of use you can get from a printer is more important now that the economy is hurting. Although prices have come down considerably for printers, you still want to get your moneys worth when you make a purchase. There are ways to make your laser printer more cost effective, and most of them are just a matter of changing habits.


Refill laser toner - Ink cartridges can be refilled 3-4 times before the cartridge needs to be discarded. You can save a lot of money by refilling the cartridges. If you do not do this, you could be spending money on a brand new cartridge (and they are not cheap) every time you run out of one colour. This is, of course, unless your printer has cartridges for each colour. Even then, refilling them is cheaper than replacing them.


Laser printer maintenance - Keep your printer in top condition by keeping it clean and in good repair. If you spot a small problem, get it fixed before it becomes a big problem. Properly maintain the inside of the printer and clean the cartridges for best results.


Use the right paper - Before you even choose a laser printer, you should see what the specifics are for paper weight. Many times a printer will wear out early due to improperly using weights of paper for which it was not intended. There is generally a pretty wide range of paper stock that the printer will accommodate, but be sure to check and make sure you are not overloading it.


Time is money - If you use more than one computer, you may want to consider going wireless and putting the printer in a central location so everyone can access it. That way, the printer is available to everyone when they need it which means everyone saves time. Also on the matter of time, consider how fast the printer can print and how fast you need it to print. If you are overloading it, it will wear out faster. Printers are designed for specific purposes. If you buy yours for home use, then use it to print large documents on a regular basis, it will wear out faster than if you buy a printer specifically for large printing jobs.


Don't let the ink dry - Many times, if you let a printer sit too long without using it, the ink will dry on the cartridges which causes clogging. If this happens, you will need to clean the printer and replace the toner cartridge. Print something (colour) at least every other day to keep the ink from drying.

5 Ways To Make Paper Supplies Last Longer

There are times you may be tempted to slap a paper rationing system on your employees to reduce the amount of paper used. This probably won't help; it will reduce productivity, not paper use. There are ways to reduce paper waste, however, so that your paper supplies last significantly longer. It is just a matter of thinking smart when it comes to paper use. You can still get just as much work done; only you can do it by using less paper.



Use duplex printing - Start implementing a plan to get employees to use both sides of the copy paper. There is no need to print each page on a separate sheet of paper, especially if it is for inter-office use. This adds up. For every sheet of copy paper used, one is saved. That really adds up. Make sure your employees know how to print on both sides of the paper, and then implement a policy. Give people time to adjust and keep stressing how much paper this saves.



Embrace the cloud, share files - Most of the time, paper copies aren't even needed. If you or an employee needs to save information, save it on your computer! Give a little mini class on how to organise the information on their computers and in the long run, you will save a lot on paper. Better yet, employees can save documents to a central location on the web so that it is accessible by any team member from anywhere, cutting back on paper use and also reducing the cost of mailing out files! Google Docs and Zoho are great ways to share information.



Cut down on memos - Use a company wide email, or post announcements to a centralised bulletin board instead of making paper memos to send out. The important thing is that the information gets read, not that it arrives on paper! Doing both increases the chance your employee will get the message, and you still save money on paper.



Make note pads from discarded paper - This is cheap, easy and practical. There is so much blank paper that makes its way into the garbage. Sometimes only a fraction of the page is used, and the rest of the page is clean. This paper makes fantastic note paper. Discourage employees from crumpling up paper before throwing it away, or designate 'use again' bins for paper that is relatively clean and can be used again. Just be aware that important or sensitive information isn't inadvertently shared via the recycle bin!



Keep your mailing list current - There is a lot of mail that goes undelivered. Paper, envelopes and postage all cost money. Keep your mailing list updated often to stop throwing away money by mailing wrong addresses or people who are no longer clients: you'd be very surprised as to how this adds up to more people than you'd think. It only takes a short time to update a mailing list, especially if it is kept up to date with regular updates. Initiate this practice and start saving on paper and money. In the long term, try and move mailing list subscribers to email and save even more cash.

5 Most Common Problems With Inkjet Printers

Trouble shooters for office equipment spend all of their time answering questions on how to solve problems that come up with printers. Needless to say all printers experience problems at some time or another, but often they are quickly resolved. Some do require a little more work, but most are simple problem solving techniques that get you back up and printing in no time.

Printer won't print - This sounds like an all too common problem, and it is. When our printer isnít printing we automatically think it must be a mistake, so we end up putting several documents into queue before checking to see what the problem is. As cliche as it may sound, and as overly simple, more often than not it is that the cable has become loose, you need to run the test print, or you need to re-install the program or driver. These are all easily done and you should be on your way.

Garbled text - Again, you may want to run a simple printer self test because the most common problem is between the computer and printer. Self tests are easy and fast. If that doesn't work, try re-installing the driver. If you are still having problems, try a different printer cable. If the problem continues, you may want to check the manual or visit the printerís online website for more trouble shooting.

Printer seems to be printing, but nothing on the paper: First, you should check the ink cartridge. Often this is the problem, especially if you do not print every day. Then run a self test on the printer (you see this one crop up a lot, because it most often solves the problem). If it still is not working right, try replacing the cartridge.

Error messages: Most often the error message is ìprinter is not responding. If this happens, check to make sure there is not paper jammed in the printer, and then check all cords and cables. It may be best to totally disconnect all cords and cables to the printer and reconnect. Then try printing again to see if the problem is not resolved.

Slow printing: If this occurs, see if the printing is slow prior to, or after the information is sent to the printer. If it is prior to the information being sent to printer, you may need more memory to run the printing jobs. You can adjust this via the control panel/printers in the start tab.