Lexmark has launched a new tool that will help consumers work out the effect their printing habits are having on the environment.
The Eco Simulator requires users to specify how they print, for example whether they print single or doubled sided, use Wi-Fi and the types of cartridges their printer takes. It then calculates the natural resources used, the ozone pollution and carbon emissions created by using the printer for one year.
The simulator also offers users helpful hints on how their printer's negative effect on the environment, such as using double-sided printing and ensuring different computer share one printer on a Wi-Fi network rather than each having a separate machine.
Batrice Marneffe, Lexmark's director of sustainable affairs, explained: "The eco-simulator for consumers is the next step in Lexmark's quest to minimise the environmental impact of printing. Sustainability has a lot to do with individual behaviour, so the tool has been developed to let each individual user understand exactly how their printing affects the environment".
