All businesses now seriously consider their environmental footprint when it comes to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan or overarching mission statement. We’ve certainly all received in our inbox a message containing “Please consider the environment before printing this email;” but what are the options for organisations when the long-term objective is going completely paperless? In this blog, we discuss a number of the opportunities available and look at what SOS Systems are doing to become more sustainable and help their customers in their sustainability journey.
It should come as no surprise that the pursuit of more sustainable printing techniques – and a focus on digital innovation – has been high on the industry agenda in recent times. And whilst the environmental benefits are obvious, there are economical ones too when all stakeholders across the business are aligned to best practices when it comes to document processes and printing.
If going paperless is the vision for your business, consider the following ideas to start heading down the correct path.
Reducing paper
Options such as scanning, duplex / double-sided printing, should all be available within the paper-saving features of your device. Unnecessary reprints are reduced when electronic sharing of documents and document previewing is encouraged.
Print on-demand
How many times have you printed copious quantities of documents or collateral, only to have throw the majority away when an update or change is made? Digital printing techniques should be considered to avoid this, by printing what is required – when and where it’s required – on-demand.
The number of devices needed
Today’s printers can copy, fax, scan and print within a single device that can replace your one function products, which can then help to deliver energy efficiencies. The key here is to identify which of your devices are redundant or under-utilised; the usage level and office location can determine this.
E-documents to replace paper versions
Filing cabinets packed to the rafters with printed documents can be replaced with a more environmentally friendly strategy. An electronic repository can provide the necessary storage functionality, while scanning documents to email provides a more seamless distribution channel. Use recycled paper if printing is a necessity.
Cost-effective printing redirection
Resource-saving features within your device can help with optimising energy consumption, as you can now redirect print work to the most suitable device thanks to rule-based printing.
Sustainable behaviour
Changing mindsets and behaviour within your employees is key to achieving performance targets. Do ensure that members of staff are fully educated about the changes you wish to implement, so you can begin straight away adopting improved document management processes.
SOS Systems and sustainability
SOS Systems takes its corporate social responsibilities very seriously, as we thoroughly appreciate that commercial enterprises have both an impact on, and a responsibility to, society as a whole.
To that end the business is totally committed to sustainability; we are constantly seeking opportunities to minimise or offset our impact on the environment, whilst providing our customers with on-going advice and guidance in support of their own green initiatives.
Read on to learn more about the initiatives we are currently involved in.
Printreleaf
SOS Systems are proud to be part of Printreleaf – the word’s first platform to automate global reforestation for paper-based products.
By integrating with industry-leading software applications, Printreleaf can accurately measure the paper consumption of a business through a combination of device and fleet data, before using that insight on a global scale.
Following the calculation of the total paper footprint, this figure is converted into a number of trees that are planted in one of the many certified reforestation projects taking place across the world. How the trees survive and progress are monitored by Printreleaf during an eight-year audit.
Since SOS Systems joined the scheme in July 2022, our customers have collectively offset the equivalent of 2.86M letter pages of paper consumption by reforesting 342.74 trees.
uniFlow
Regardless of size, businesses that no longer want to invest in, or manage, local servers can all benefit from our relationship with uniFLOW Online. This public cloud and scan solution has the capabilities to manage the entire print environment for any organisation, anywhere, with the high scalability you would expect to cope with ever-changing demands, supported by enterprise security standards.
Aside from operational efficiencies, implementing uniFLOW automatically enhances sustainability by reducing the amount of wasted paper. Additionally, any print jobs not released within a certain timeframe will be automatically deleted and can enforce policies to ensure jobs are printed in black and white and/or duplex.
Papercut MF
Delivering industry-leading print management software for over 20 years is what PaperCut does best, which in the long-term reduces paper and saves trees. Now you can ensure the printing part just happens, every time it’s expected, across your chosen devices that are configured to your preferred settings.
If you’re looking to make sustainable habits the status quo across your business then we recommend you consider implementing PaperCut MF; a solution that can help you use less paper, save on toner and recover costs thanks to it eco-friendly policies. Furthermore, PaperCut Grows is a sustainability programme that – like Printreleaf – turns your printing into tree planting for a forest positive impact on the environment.
Find out more
If your business is looking to adopt sustainable printing techniques that reduces unnecessary paper consumption, makes your office more energy efficient and has a positive impact on the environment, then get in touch as we’re here to help? We can also dive deeper into the great initiatives referenced above and how you can support these too.
