Al Gore.
Are you thinking about the former ‘next president of the United States’ or about An Inconvenient Truth? Most of you will say the movie/PowerPoint presentation, which goes to show you the power of the green movement—it can overshadow even the President of the United States (well, he was for a few minutes after they initially called the Florida recount).
There is no doubt that the Green/Environmental movement has changed not only our landscape but the way we approach life and business. From carbon trading to carbon credits, solar power to wind farms and bio fuels to hybrid cars, the axis of environmental awareness has shifted from pop culture to corporate culture. There is now immense social pressure on companies to go green. But there are two types of companies going green, ones that simply buckle to pressure and make a half-baked effort, and ones that grab the opportunity by its green horns and use ‘green’ to their advantage.

Guess where the bulk of these eco-avenging companies are? Yup—you guessed it. Nowhere are green initiatives stronger than on the Eastern seaboard, with the eco-hippies in San Fran, cool-to-be-green socialites in LA and our homegrown Environmental Avengers in Vancouver and B.C. Here in Vancouver we’re leading the way on environmental initiatives that support the green movement.
Now that you’ve got your green goggles on, consider the following ‘oh really?’ facts:

• The average 120-cubic-foot tree produces 8,333 sheets of paper, the equivalent of a carton of paper

• The typical office worker prints 10,000 pages every year, which is the equivalent of an entire tree. Of those 10,000 sheets 17% are never even used

• A printed page’s lifespan in an office environment is less that 5 minutes

• The typical laser printer creates 100 pounds of waste each year

• Un-managed print environments have 2.7 workers per print device compared to 6 per device for a managed environment

If you’re company has been looking for an opportunity to go green that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg—or a tree—then consider this: a well-run Managed Print program can save a company from 10% to 40% of their print budget. This print budget savings comes from better management, less printing and proper use of consumables. Two birds, one green, moss-covered stone.
So, use MPS to compliment your budget with a new environmentally sustainable green initiative. Reduce waste, lower your budget, shrink your carbon footprint and look awesome doing it.