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| Tuesday, April 22, 2008 |
| Change the Margins Before Hitting Print |
This WBUR story: Kids Live Earth Day Every Day follows a group of 4th graders who lobbied the Massachusetts State House to change the margins on documents before hitting print to save paper. A simple but powerful idea: ELI BERLIN: There are so many convincing facts why we should and there's no point in not doing it.
BRADY-MYEROV: The students' cite facts from the web site "Changethemargins.com" which says if all margins were changed from 1 inch to three quarters, that would leave 19% more space for text and less paper used. The paper industry is the second biggest user of fossil fuels. It is also uses more fresh water per ton of product than any other industry. If you visit the website cited: Change the Margins it provides an interesting story on how the movement began: THE IDEA
I've always tried to save paper.
Not because I was an environmental revolutionary.
But because I was poor.
An aspiring actress and writer, money was tight as I was starting out my career. When I found myself going through reams of paper on a regular basis as I was printing out drafts of articles and audition scripts, one of the ways I realized I could save some cash was by making my margins as narrow as possible.
Narrower margin settings = more text/page = less paper used = fewer $$ on my credit card at Office Depot.
I know that to most people, saving a sheet of paper here and there may not seem like a big financial windfall, but when a single paycheck stands between making rent at the end of the month and getting an eviction notice, you do whatever it takes!
Luckily, as my career has progressed, I'm now more financially stable, but my paper-saving habits have stuck with me. And as global warming and sustainability issues have taken center stage over the past few years, it seemed like there were other compelling reasons besides conserving a buck to stick with the margin changing. Such a simple thing to do - change your margins!Labels: Saving Energy, Saving Money |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 12:07 PM *
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| 6 Comments: |
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in college I'd rummage though the recycling bins to find paper with a perfectly good other side to it. I'd hand in my papers on the backside of other students papers and it would confuse my professors, but it sure did save me a ton of money, not to mention many reams of paper!
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That is an interesting story. I hardly print things but it is a good idea to keep in mind.
On another note I have tagged you for a six word memoir so write yours and pass it on.
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Thanks for posting our story.The more people do this, the more trees we will save. This was just the start of our work - we will keep on this until the end of term.
Wow- what a great segment on wbur- morning edition !
thanks again for your post.
Norah
to learn more about our idea including a youtube video:
http://inventorsnotebookatrium.blogspot.com/2008/04/state-house-trip-great-success.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_71mKrB7tDI
http://www.changethemargins.com/
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I try to save paper when printing also. A lot of my printing is email (not just for sport, but either for complex issues, or printing driving directions, etc).
In addtinon to smaller margins, my other suggestions:
- Delete legal disclaimers before printing. (Often over an inch plus)
- Delete some of the extra spaces that make documents easier to read but take up space.
- Delete long signatures if I alredy have the person's info.
- Use print-preview and try not to print any pages that will only contain a web-page footer (Hotmail ads, etc) or emailer's signature or other extraneous info.
- To save ink, if not paper, I will try to remove extra pictures. A great example is when printing directions from a website, there may be advertisements or colored banners included. I try to delete those before printig, usually saving both ink and paper.
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Thanks so much for supporting the Change the Margins campaign! It's posts like yours that increase awareness of the idea and make it more effective.
All my best,
Tamara Krinsky
Founder
Change the Margins
www.changethemargins.com
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I think this is wonderful!
I run a small business and send invoices out with each order. Changing the margins saves me at least a page per order - and setting it to print 2 pages to a page saves me 50% of each order invoice (as much as 10 pages in a single order, though usually less). I can read it, the customer can read it and customs agents require an invoice - so I have to send it anyway. I'm consistently frustrated with mailings I receive with just one line on the 2nd page - not even the reverse side!
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in college I'd rummage though the recycling bins to find paper with a perfectly good other side to it. I'd hand in my papers on the backside of other students papers and it would confuse my professors, but it sure did save me a ton of money, not to mention many reams of paper!