Going green: Print fewer PDFs, save more trees
FormRouter and Global Warming Initiatives (GWI) have launched GreenPDF.com to “educate the public on the environmental impact of printing PDF documents.” To help save trees and facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gasses, the website provides a method for uploading a PDF file to add a JavaScript-based environmental awareness notice to the document. It advises the user to consider not printing the document as a way to help save the environment.
Available for download is a presentation by James DeRosa, Director of Analysis for GWI, titled “The Green PDF: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions One Ream at a Time” [PDF: 2 MB] that details the impact of printing PDF documents and offers related statistics and suggestions, such as:
Each ream of paper not printed due to Green PDF’s equals 18.5 less pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
It takes only 173 reams of paper not printed of Green PDFs to save a tree and lessen atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by more than 2 metric tons.
In America, 173 reams of paper are used about every 5 seconds.
If all 700 million users of Adobe Reader decided not to print just one 10-page PDF each year, there would be three environmental effects:
ONE: Less waste due to fourteen million reams of copy or print paper not used.
TWO: 80,000 trees would not be cut down annually.
THREE: 118,000 less tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
DeRosa closes by asking all users of Acrobat and Reader to do their small part: “Next time you make a PDF, make it a Green PDF, and do your bit for a better, cleaner, greener Earth.”
November 21st, 2007 at 2:07 am
Well I have often seen, heard and used “green printing” or “environment friendly” printing like the ones done a http://www.bacchuspress.com but never heard anything about Green PDF. Thanks a ton for the great info.