SUNY Initiative to Reduce Printing on Campus
A system-wide initiative that helps us to invest in students, not paper, while contributing to a more sustainable environment.
SUNY Plattsburgh is committed to system-wide efforts to reduce costs, increase operational efficiencies, and implement secure and sustainable printing practices. Our campus has been engaged in a managed printing process for the past 10 years.
The SUNY Print Initiative represents a continuation of that process and a further refinement of our printing environment. It aims to cut costs and enhance environmental sustainability by reducing printing across all SUNY institutions.
In essence, SUNY’s initiative is a requirement to print smart and print less. The overarching goal is to reduce printing costs and decrease our carbon footprint in accordance with SUNY stewardship and sustainability goals.
To comply with SUNY’s mandate, we must:
- Reduce our printer fleet
- Reduce Single Function Printer (SFP) count
- Remove all directly attached devices
- Reduce color printing by 50%
- Reduce mono printing by 35%
- Migrate to Pharos Uniprint
Benefits
- Improved sustainability and savings
- High device utilization
- Less print and paper, more digital
- More secure
- Multi-function devices with scan/fax/email capabilities
- Efficient letter/legal devices
Timeline
2021-22
- Initial planning and assessment
Spring and Summer 2022
- Work with employees and departments to ensure effective print solutions while reducing the number of campus printers, beginning with locally connected (desktop) printers and some laser printers
- Replace Kyocera copiers and remaining campus laser printers with upgraded equipment
Fall 2022
- Centralize printer use in each campus building, using more secure multi-function devices that can print, scan, fax, and email
- Distribute a map of printers to guide users to the print locations
- Implement training in new processes and equipment, as needed
By July 2023
- Have new, centralized multi-function printers in campus buildings
- Have 100% of print devices secure and connected to our network
- Eliminate all locally attached desktop devices
- Increase the usage of two-sided (duplex) printing to 100%
- Achieve significant savings on consumables and electricity, reducing our college’s carbon footprint
What Can You Do? — A lot!
The SUNY initiative is a wonderful challenge for our campus community to improve our carbon footprint and express our values.
Printing less saves trees and reduces energy consumption. It also saves water — there are nearly 47 gallons of water in a ream of paper.
All of us can take steps to reduce our printing immediately. We can think twice before we print and make the most of our technology by using online collaboration tools and moving documents to shared platforms.
See SUNY’s Print Strategy Slides: “Making Print the Way it Should Be”