According to a national research firm, the average K12 school district produces 15 to 25 pages per student per day - including documents produced onsite and through commercial means. Anyone curious as to what these pages cost? Well, most analysts would agree the average-cost-per-page in an education environments is somewhere around $0.02 to $0.04 cents per page, depending whether it is produced on a copier or printer. The figure is based on total operating cost, which includes expense such as electricity, real estate space, acquisition cost, bank financing, supply consumables, service and paper.

Although a few cents doesn’t seem like much, copier and printer costs quickly add up. A district with a 10,000 student population will spend $540,000 (15 pages per student) to $900,000 (25 pages per student) annually, just to provide copying and printer services.

The good news is there are multitude steps administrators can take, simple or complex, to reduce document output. In fact, reducing total output by just one page-per-student-per-day equals an annual savings of $36,000 to $72,000 - a target that can be easily attained in most districts.

So look around your school district and determine what steps you can take to reduce excess copies and prints. Chances are very real you could save tens of thousands of dollars. We suggest you read Hannah Recla’s post titled 14 Ideas for Reducing Paper Usage in Copiers and Printers. It offers several, east to implement suggestions to will help your district reduce the number of pages-per-student-per-day to achieve real savings.

Here are 14 ideas for reducing paper usage in copiers, printers and faxes. When used together, these suggestions can have a significant impact on the number of documents an organization produces.

1. Design documents effectively
   
   Before you hit the “GO” button, ask the following questions to determine if the document you need to communicate needs to go back to the “drawing board”.
   
   - What is the purpose of the document?
   - Who is my intended audience?
   - Why do I need to communicate this information to that audience?
   - What action or behavior am I expecting from the recipient?
   
   
2. Communicate information electronically
   
   Can the information be e-mailed?
   
   Determine if the document you’re about to copy can be communicated electronically. Do you have the document in an electronic format already? If so, can you e-mail the document to the intended recipients? If the document is not already available in an electronic format, can you scan the document and then e-mail it to your intended recipients?
   
   Can the information be posted online?
   
   Some teachers are beginning to post and receive homework assignments online. Also, school administrators are beginning to post board packets, teacher handbooks, student handbooks, student curriculum and various district documents online.
   
   
3. Don’t print multiple pages you don’t need
   
   Determine whether or not the information you need to communicate can be copied or printed on both sides of the paper using the device’s “duplex” feature. If so, make two-sided copies or prints. If the device you’re printing to cannot duplex, print the odd pages first and then put the pages you printed in the paper feed tray and then print the even pages on the blank side of the paper.
   
   
4. Shrink documents to half their size and print/copy 2-up
   
   Determine whether or not it is feasible to shrink your original down to 50% size and put two copies on one sheet of paper or to print two pages per sheet. Use this along with the duplex feature. (Check to make sure there is a paper cutter nearby.)
   
   
5. Don’t make copies you don’t need right now
   
   Are you planning on printing extra copies for future use? If possible, print only what you know you’ll use in the short-term so that if plans change in the coming weeks (or if the document undergoes a revision) there are not wasted copies.
   
   
6. Don’t print documents to send as faxes
   
   Determine whether or not the intended recipient has an email address you can send the document to. Additionally, there is software available for sending and receiving faxes through email which won’t use any paper at all on your end.
   
   
7. Don’t use fax cover sheets
   
   Determine if you can use a small sticky-note designed to communicate the recipient’s information or add the recipient’s name to the first page of the document you need to fax.
   
   
8. Eliminate junk faxes
   
   Call the number listed on the bottom of the page that is provided for removing yourself from the company’s fax list.
   
   
9. Preview the document before printing it
   
   Do a “print preview” before printing each document. If possible, increase the margins or change the formatting so that the document takes fewer pages. If you are printing from a web page, print to PDF (if possible) first, and then eliminate any unneeded pages.
   
   
10. Eliminate unneeded space when printing emails
    
    If it is necessary to print an email, copy and paste the email to another document that you can edit to remove unnecessary space and all but the relevant portions of the thread.
    
    
11. Re-use “half-used” paper
    
    Create a place to store “half-used” paper, i.e. paper that has a copy or print on one side, but not the other. Use this paper when printing rough drafts or internal memos.
    
    
12. Establish access codes for making copies or prints
    
    If not, ask your administrators if access controls can be set up. Access controls are an excellent means of holding everyone equally accountable for reducing waste.
    
    
13. Limited access to paper
    
    Another idea for potentially reducing paper usage is to control the amount of paper that each user has access to, perhaps on a monthly basis. Again, this could be an excellent means of holding everyone equally accountable for reducing waste.
    
    
14. Set a goal to reduce your paper use by 20%
    
    Many government agencies are setting a goal of reducing their paper usage by 20%. Track your own paper usage and see if you can reach this goal. Your great example will influence those around you!

Have you seen, heard about, or implemented other paper reduction suggestions or strategies? Please leave a comment and let me know about them!

Hannah Recla
Analysis Services

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