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Why can’t we print on both sides?

By thomascrampton ⋅ September 23, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Seems like such an obvious way to reduce waste. Instead of that stack of paper printed on one side that sits next to your printer, why not print on both sides?

Rich Brubaker of Cleaner Green China has started a campaign to encourage double-sided printing. Here’s his plan and how you can help:

A couple months ago, a sustainability director from one of the largest computer / computer accessory companies contacted me about their sustainability program. More specifically, how they were now offering “green products” and looking to find new ways to “green”.

Through this conversation, I brought up the fact that I owned one of their laser printers, and that the user interface did not offer a “double side print option”.. That, while everyone was talking about the important of double sided printing, their products actually made the process difficult by not having the option of double side printing in their interface (users have to print odd pages first, collated in reverse order, then turn the pages over, and turn them around)…

A problem I thought he would be receptive to, but was proven wrong when he sent me a technical document on how to configure the printer on my own (hardly a solution to the greater problem) and assured me he would look into it… on a grander level though it lead me to ask if it was only this brand of printer or was something that was characteristic of all printers on the market?, and that has lead me to send this email to you and lead me to ask you for some assistance

When you have 1 minute of your time, can you please do me the favor of while connected to your printer (home or work), take a screen shot of the user interface (i.e. hit control P and then print screen) for your printer and email the screenshot (copy into powerpoint) with the make/ model/ age of your printer.

Send the image in email to: rbrubaker at allroadsleadtochina dot com

Regardless of whether or not you can actually doubleside print (actually, if you cannot it would make my case stronger), my goal is to put together a fair number of submissions and put together an informal report that I will submit to not only this manager but several others that I know at the major firms to see

Maybe I am over thinking this, or maybe I think that through this email I can bring about a simple change with a larger positive impact, but either way thank you for your time… and thank you in advance for any help.

Hope all is well

Rich

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Comments for “Why can’t we print on both sides?”

  • wecanbegreen
    I did a post on this as well and I love seeing it addressed elsewhere. Printing/copying double sided is such an easy way to save paper that it is often overlooked.
    Please feel free to visit
    http://www.wecanbegreen.com/blog/2009/02/green-...
  • at home I can only do single sided. I forced the concept at my company on 8/10 printers. It did save a whole lot of paper. (they were going through a pallet of paper per month, that was changed to every 2 months; accounting was biggest waste of paper)

    The optimal solution if it's a networked printer is to have 2 printer choices on a desktop: single sided & duplex.

    of all the printers I've worked with, they hide that function rather deep into the driver, thus it's never used.

    add on to that, I'd say 9/10 printers don't have that option, it's usually adds a few $100 to the cost.
  • peeetee
    Hi Rich, thanks for explaining your campaign in more detail. It appears I misunderstood what you were saying - probably due to reading it quickly, as I was at work! I didn't grasp that you were saying it should be easier to manually print on both sides for people who DON'T have a printer capable of printing on both sides.

    I thought you were suggesting there should be an option for double sided printing even when the printer can't do it, as in the button would be redundant but at least would still be there!

    It's a great idea and I wish you the best of luck with it. I will send you some screenshots when I get a chance.
  • CGC
    @ Thomas.

    First, thanks for posting this. I am now at about 30 submissions, and I am learning more and more as the submissions come in.

    In short, my letter really is about better communication. That were HP/ Canon/ Epson/ etc to have a simple radio button on the front, and would allow users to create a default for duplex printing, that would go a long wasy.

    As it stands though, many models require 2-3 clicks to make it possible to duplex print.

    It is nothing more than changing the user interface to make this easier..

    R
  • CGC
    @ Peeetee

    To address a few opoints you have raised.

    1) Many people are not purchasing the enterprise systems (500 USD and up) that can internally print double sided. Instead, they have the 100USD - 300USD printers that are made for the home/ home office. Printers that are mechanically only able to print on one side.

    However, for about 60% - 75% of THOSE printers, what I have found is that manufacturers have not included a simple software additional that instructs users how to accomplish a manual double print.

    So, instead of selecting an option for "double side print", what many are left with is Odd or Even page print..

    2) As to the why would people want to double side print? Well.. Iguess that depends on the person, but that is actually beside the point. The point here is that even if only 10% of the users want to, many are not given the instructions on how to, and that inhibits people from actually doing so.

    Which, ends up wasting paper.

    As a final point, and to address the wider point of why I myself was interested in originally sending this email to about 30 friends was that as someone who has been working on CSR/ sustainability, I am constantly hearing messages from firms about how "green" they are. They plant a tree, save energy/ output,etc... and many consumer electronics firms have recently come out to say they are "carbon neutral".

    Yet, a simple thing like this - providing a SIMPLE piece of code - and enabling millions of users to EASILY double side print, is something that is very tangible.

    Anyway, glad that you have purchased printers that are enabled and mechanically able to print. I myself am a very light printer, and have moved mostely to digital, so the issue for me is not a cost item... it is one where I saw a very easy step towards reducing a huge amount of paper waste and asked some friends to send me what their user experience was.

    .. and I would invite you to submit yours as well

    R
  • @peeete

    I had no idea. Perhaps it is just a matter of the printer manufacturers publicizing the feature more.
  • peeetee
    I just checked both my mac and my pc - there is always the option to print double sided if your printer can do it.

    "Regardless of whether or not you can actually doubleside print" Why on earth would you want an option to print on both sides when your printer cannot actually print double sided - that makes no sense at all!

    I'm all for trying to find ways to reduce our impact on the environment but none of what he's saying really makes any sense to me. Surely people not buying printers capable of double sided printing is the real issue here?
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thomascramptonconf

Thomas Crampton was a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, reporting from five continents, writing a column on Asia and covering Asian politics, economics and culture. Currently based in Hong Kong, he writes here about China, the Internet and New Media seen from Asia, while also advising companies on digital communication strategies. For more information click here...