Computers

I want to develop a more eco friendly attitude. And I would like to help you go green and protect the environment.

In the last few month I was researching how can I be more eco friendly and today I will show you some tips about how to have the right eco attitude when using you computer, printer and the printer ink cartridges.

Becoming a little more eco-friendly is not hard; it is a process which takes several steps:

• Be eco aware. Learn about how you can contribute to help the environment
• Make small changes. Instead of buying poor quality products and throw them after a while try to get good quality ones and keep them for as long as possible.

The clogging of inkheads has never been a problem for me in over 10 years experience across a number of printers.

A good tip for increasing the printer and cartridges’ lives: from time to time print a page with a few line of text using the black, red, yellow and blue. This will prevent the ink from drying and you will be able to use the cartridges for a longer period of time.

With empty cartridges you have 3 options:

• You can refill them. Be aware because most manufacturers do not recommend refilling the cartridges
• You can donate them. Look for a eco centre which collects cartridges close to you
• You can recycle them

To go more eco-friendly in printing you might also consider the following:

1. if you are not using color printing or very occasionally, get a mono laser printer, it works out as being much cheaper per toner cartridge, lasts a lot longer, although the cartridge is a lot bigger of course.

2. Use duplex printing where available to save paper.

3. Most printers have an eco-setting, whereby you can print more from the same cartridge, with slight loss of quality.

4. Always check the page with the print preview facility before printing it.

5. Only print when you need to. alternatives are e-mail, online storage with/without sharing.