Success Stories

Laser Printer Toner Cartridges

Business: Barker-Halland Insurance Company (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 21

Vignette

• Lighting retrofit reduced electricity use by 34%. The retrofit includes replacing T-12 fluorescent lamps and magnetic ballasts with T-8 lamps and electronic ballasts, removing lamps in areas that were overlit, and replacing standard "screw-in" incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. The retrofit cost $880 (after a utility rebate and Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit). FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $717/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 13,812 kWh/year.
• Installed a new high-efficiency variable speed condensing gas furnace and replaced an undersized air conditioner. Also replaced a continuous speed fan with a variable speed fan that uses approximately 42% less electricity. The fan runs at a lower speed when the building isn’t being heated or cooled. While these changes will reduce energy use, they will also significantly improve employee comfort, and thus productivity. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $429/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 6,990 kWh/year (electricity) and 217 therms/year (natural gas).
• Implementing a fully-electronic system for storing, accessing, and changing customer records. This is expected to save considerable time and paper. RESOURCE SAVINGS: about 9 cases of paper per year.
• Uses remanufactured toner cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $360/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 45 pounds/year.
• Recycles office paper. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $270/year.
• Purchases stationery and paper towels manufactured from recycled paper.
• Sends faxes electronically where possible; or uses small sticky notes or 1/2 page fax covers rather than full page covers.
• Insulated hot water heater.
• Placed bathroom lights on a crank-style timer, so that they can’t be accidentally left on.

Case Study

• Case study exists.

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Business: Clackamas Income Tax (Clackamas)

Number of Employees: unknown

Vignette

Reduces paper, envelope, and printer cartridge use by filing tax returns electronically. This saves an estimated $105 for every 1,500 pages sent electronically. Most of the savings are in printer cartridge replacement.

Case Study

None

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Business: Corvallis-Benton County Public Library (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 62

Vignette

• Transports books between locations in durable plastic totes, rather than paper boxes.
• Uses remanufactured toner cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $325/year.
• Buys stationery containing recycled paper.
• Recycles office paper, corrugated cardboard boxes, newspaper, yard debris, and bottles and cans.
• Encourages the reuse of books through an annual used book sale. Consolidates unsaleable books with Oregon State University for recycling.
• The Library has an unofficial policy banning the use of brightly colored papers ("astrobrights") which are difficult to recycle. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $200/year.
• All restroom sinks have self-regulating faucets that provide water for about three seconds before shutting off. Water is also set at a constant temperature, so patrons don’t waste water adjusting the temperature.
• Reduced run times on automatic sprinkler irrigation system from 20 minutes per station to 6-10 minutes per station. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: approximately $530/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: approximately 440,000 gallons of water/year.
• As bulbs in exit signs burn out, staff are replacing them with LED lamps. LED lamps have life expectancies of 30 to 50 years, compared to 4 to 6 months for traditional incandescent lamps. The full retrofit will cost $1,352. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $628/year when fully implemented (electricity and bulb savings, labor savings not included). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 8,000 kWh/year (when fully implemented).

Case Study

• Case study exists.

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Business: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (Portland)

Number of Employees: 165

Vignette

• Reduced use of copy and printer paper by 10% by:
  • Using laser-printed stationery. This eliminates the need to print and stock new letterhead each time an office is added.
  • Using a fax transmission "macro" that prints a small box with the outgoing fax number and number of pages on the first page of the document, in place of cover pages.
  • Eliminating the unused second page of two-part "copy request" and "scan request" forms. Forms are now printed in-house since carbonless paper is no longer needed.
  • Eliminating blank pages between print jobs by reprogramming computers.
  • Office policy requires that all internal documents are copied on both sides of the paper.

FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $6,000/year (including some but not all of the resulting labor savings). RESOURCE SAVINGS: more than 100 cases of paper (5,000 pounds)/year.

• Remanufactured toner cartridges and used in laser printers and fax machines. The firm recommends that other companies interview vendors to determine what services are provided, and ask for customer references. Remanufactured cartridges occasionally require early replacement, but a good service company will replace them at no cost. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $12,000/year.
• Approximately 60% of the firm’s paper purchases contain some recycled content.
• Every employee has a desk-side box for recycling office paper and office paper and newspaper containers are located on every floor.

Case Study

• Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

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Business: Detlefsen Law Office PC (Portland)

Number of Employees: 5

Vignette

• Reduced use of copy and printer paper by 10% by:
  • Reformatting billing worksheets to fit more text on each page.
  • Reducing the number of copies of final invoices from three to two.
  • Reusing the back of paper for internal copies of invoices and draft documents.
  • Using a fax stamp rather than a cover sheet for non-confidential document.

FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $200/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: more than 50 pounds/year (1 case of paper).

• Reuses mailing envelopes.
• Eliminated duplicate CLE announcements.
• Uses remanufactured toner cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $220/year.
• Recycles almost everything (reduced garbage disposal by 80%) and uses paper containing post-consumer recycled content for both stationery and copy and printer paper.

Case Study

• Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

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Business: Tualatin High School (Tualatin)

Number of Employees: ~100

Vignette

• Encourage teachers and students to copy, print, and write on both sides of the page.
• Eliminated print overruns of the school newspaper. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,260/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 260 pounds/year.
• Use a posting policy to discourage excess posters; install more bulletin boards, reduce number of posters. This reduces high custodial costs repainting damaged walls.
• Classroom garbage can liners are no longer changed every night unless obviously soiled. Lunchroom garbage can liners are only pulled between lunches if more than half full.
• Replaced paper food trays for a la carte items with wax tissue pickups. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $458/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 320 pounds/year.
• A mulching mower is used everywhere except the football field and baseball diamond. This saves mowing time, hauling expenses, and garbage bags. It also returns nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil, reducing lawn fertilizer needs. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $10,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 37,800 pounds/year.
• Purchase cleaning solutions in concentrate. A dispenser unit is used to mix the concentrates with water at the correct ratio. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $300/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 350 pounds/year.
• Purchase remanufactured laser printer cartridges rather than new cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,200/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 72 pounds/year
• Built in 1991, the school features glazed and double-paned windows, electronic ballasts, advanced fluorescent lights, and computer controlled heating and cooling. As a result of these design features, Tualatin High School uses 36% less energy per square foot of building space than the district’s other high school. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: approximately $35,000/year.

Case Study

• Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

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