Printing Costs and Toner Recycling
To prove how important ink and toner recycling really is, take a second and think about the most expensive things you have ever purchased. What comes to mind first? For most people it would probably be a house, a car, or maybe even a wedding ring. The house and the car have one thing in common, though, that the wedding band does not share: size. This brings up the next and most central point of this illustration. How much do you spend on toner or inkjet printer cartridges? Typically you spend somewhere between twenty and fifty dollars. But now consider the fact that most inkjet cartridges only contain somewhere in the range of a fifth of an ounce of ink, and all of a sudden printer ink skyrockets to easily become one of the most expensive things you have ever purchased (based on quantity of product for your dollar).
In fact, a recent study done by professionals showed that common printer ink is comparable in price by volume to a vintage (i.e. over half a century old in this case) bottle of ultra top shelf champagne. If you figure that there are roughly twenty-five fluid ounces in a 750ml bottle of champagne, that means there is about 125 times as much champagne by comparison. Multiply an average of $35 per cartridge by 125 and the result is $4,375 for a champagne bottle full of printer ink! Luckily, there is a solution to this costly problem: recycling ink and toner.
By starting your own or participating in a preexisting ink or toner recycling program you can help lower these costs while helping to save the environment as well. Another great idea is to consider buying refilled, recycled, or otherwise remanufactured printer cartridges. Not only are they environmentally friendly, they also can save you up to fifty percent on printing costs. It may seem to good to be true, but in reality its just smart and environmentally responsible shopping.