Several months ago, I got a low ink warning from my Canon multifunction printer. So I got some new cartridges and put them in the drawer. There they still sit, waiting for the ink to actually run out.

I don’t do a lot of printing on paper, for many reasons; e.g., it’s expensive, the paper industry pollutes like crazy, it wastes trees, and it wastes space in my place. It clutters my life. We got computers partly so we could stop writing everything down and warehousing it, right? A hard drive or a CD can store thousands upon thousands of documents.

Anyway, I do some printing, but it’s been months, and it’s still printing right along. Every time I click Print, the warning pops up and the printed page comes out. No problem.

Now PC World has published this article which confirms what I’ve long expected: that those ink warnings are often baloney. I guess we all know that printers have gotten cheaper and cheaper over the years because that’s not where they make their money. They make the dough on the ink, which is still pretty expensive.

So my thinking is this: When the warning appears, it’s a nice time to stop by the office store for a new set of cartridges. And when the page rolls out with no ink on it, it’s time to put them in the machine.

And now for something else to read:

The “Please Don’t Print this E-mail” Revolution

Corporate America Rides a Green Wave

Initially popular among a green activists, the “please don’t print this e-mail” signature has become a viral marketing phenomenon. Born in an age of on-the-spot information and quick communication, the socially responsible end-note is gaining popularity in the “cubicle armies of corporate America,” as the Los Angeles Times put it.

The L.A. Times traces the phenomenon’s origin to a 135-word Treehugger blog post that eight months ago asked readers to add this short line to their automatic e-mail signatures: “Save trees. Print Only When Necessary.”

E-mail has yet to produce the fabled “paperless office” that computing power pundits promised (According to GreenPrint Technologies, Americans use enough paper every year to build a 10-foot-high wall that would stretch from New York to Tokyo) but it’s easy enough to trim your paper waistline.

Just add your variation of the following eco-tip to your e-mail signature: “Printing emails is wasteful. Save trees and make this message go viral instead.”

Or, for a simpler call to action, just say: “Please don’t print!”

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