Saving Printing Costs at the Office

Why does it always seem that when we're about to print something important, the ink toner low light is burning brightly. Worse yet, sometimes we're in the middle of printing and our proposal fades away as each page passes through the printer until we're left with a handful of slightly warm blank pages. The office manager is screaming that we're printing too much and that the cost of ink is getting far out of hand. So what is a productive, printer-friendly office to do about the disappearing ink and it's rising costs? Well, luckily we've devised a few tricks of our own to combat the high costs of high productivity and, better still, we're going to share them with you.
Firstly, to reduce the amount of ink used in your office, it is best to mandate a reduction in resolution. Often papers printed at a lower resolution are perfectly legible while reducing the drag on the printer's ink cartridge. Even a 10% reduction in ink usage by switching to a lower quality print, say a "draft" print, can save the company quite a few Pounds over the next fiscal year. Think of it as a buy 10 get one free program instead and see how your office manager leaps at the change in policy.
Secondly, talk with your office co-workers about the usage of ink. There are always news stories, cartoons, or cute office signs being printed that, although small, can drain ink over time - sometimes quite quickly of many of your officemates are playing with the printer. Though there will no doubt be some grumbling at the new policy, if they understand the savings could mean a little extra in the company coffers, peer pressure will work its magic.
Thirdly, consider having the ink cartridges re-filled instead of purchasing new ones. Refilling the ink cartridges occurs at the factory of most major printer companies and so the technology has long existed. Recently, office supply retailers and other places have begun offering to refill ink cartridges for a fraction of the price of new cartridges. The whole process takes about an hour per cartridge and usually has satisfactory results. If, for whatever reason, the refilled ink cartridge doesn't work, many such places offer pre-refilled cartridges to exchange for your "dead" one. Speaking of pre-refilled cartridges, consider purchasing ink cartridges that have been refilled by a third party instead of a new cartridge. Though the reliability of such cartridges may deteriorate over time, almost every retailer that sells these refurbished cartridges has a money back or replacement guarantee in place to keep you satisfied.
A few preventative measures and becoming a miser when it comes to ink cartridges can save quite a bit of money in the printing department. And that's always a welcome change in any office.