USask Implements Printer Optimization Program, Achieves Remarkable Sustainability Milestones

In a technology-forward move towards reducing its environmental footprint, USask has made significant strides in reducing the carbon footprint and power consumption associated with printing on campus. The Print Optimization Program, and initiative that began in 2018, has yielded substantial energy savings and is tangibly connecting IT to the university's sustainability efforts.

The Print Optimization Program aims to make printing on campus safer, more efficient, and less wasteful through the adoption of convenient networked devices, toner cartridge management, and the removal of wasteful individual desktop printers. Since its inception, the program has resulted in a reduction of 110,000 kg CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalents) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a remarkable decrease in printer power consumption by 854,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). To put these achievements into perspective, the cumulative impact of these savings is equivalent to avoiding:

• a 2.5 million km drive (equivalent to circumnavigating the earth 62 times),
• refueling nearly 260,000 L of gasoline,
• powering of 118 homes for one year, or
• recharging 73.6 million mobile phones[1].

Critical Path to Sustainability, the university’s 2020-2030 Sustainability Strategy, states USask’s GHG reduction goals as 45% below 2010 levels by 2030. With electricity representing around half of the university’s total GHG footprint, programs like this are critical to achieving our long-term sustainability goals and setting an example for other large institutions.

Gary Brunet, Director of IT Support Services at USask, expressed enthusiasm regarding the program's success, stating, "sustainability ranks high among our reasons for taking on the Print Optimization Program. It’s easy to underestimate the amount of electricity these small devices use, and scaling that back can be an easy step towards reducing the university’s overall carbon footprint."

Despite the program’s success, it still has further to go. Unmanaged desktop personal printers, or small office printers with 1 or 2 users, operate at a fraction of the cost and energy efficiency of IT’s managed network printers. An estimated 1,300 of these printers are spread across campus, and while they may offer slight degrees of convenience, these devices represent major issues in energy consumption and toner waste.

Brunet’s team has done the calculations, and the savings potential is great. “At our estimates of around 1,300 of these devices on campus, they’re costing around $261,000 a year on toner costs alone,” says Brunet. “The same work could be done for $86,000 on our managed printers, and that $175,000 in savings is nothing to laugh at.” Those cost estimates don’t even consider the emissions footprint of these machines, which is around 5 million kg CO₂e annually.

For USask community members looking to help get the most out of the program, making the move to IT’s managed printer fleet is the simplest answer. “These devices are designed to be extremely efficient in their electricity and toner use, much more so than any personal desktop printer could dream of achieving,” says Brunet. “For those out there who just can’t imagine getting rid of their machine, a simpler small step would just be joining our managed toner program. You don’t have to worry about running out and getting your own toner whenever you run out and you only pay for the actual pages you print instead of any wasted toner over time.”

The efforts of the Print Optimization Program are just another of the many feathers in IT’s cap when it comes to achievements in sustainability. February 29 marked the finalization of USask’s first shipment of IT and electronics recycling to Quantum Lifecycle Partners for environmentally responsible disposal, which resulted in the diversion of 7,550 lbs of recyclable material from the landfill. This was the first shipment of an ongoing contract which is sure to continue to divert countless amounts of hazardous waste from Saskatoon’s landfills.

 

 [1] Reductions metrics sourced from Western Business Machines reports on USask’s managed printing.