Top Ink and Toner Questions

Over the last couple of months I have been gathering information from friends, family, and customers to find out what questions consumers have about ink and toner. I got some great questions and I would love to share them with you as well as the answers.

Q: Why did my all in one printer cost $80 but ink for it costs $50?

A: As far as I can tell, all of the major printer manufacturers have made the choice to use the “Razor and Blades” business model. They sell you the printer at, or even below cost with the hope that you will buy their name brand ink cartridges. By selling the ink and toner to you they are able to make up for the lack of profit on the printer itself.

Q: Does shaking a printer toner cartridge actually give you more prints?

A: Yes, shaking a printer toner cartridge can get you more prints. If you are going to do this make sure you shake the toner side to side. If you shake it up and down there is a good chance you’ll have a toner mess on your hands (and clothes and floor, and desk).

HINT: If you do ever get toner on your clothes, DO NOT try to clean it up with a liquid. A liquid will only set the stain. DO take a dry towel and hit the stain with it to knock off the excess toner. Then wipe it off with a clean dry cloth. When you wash your clothes the stain should come out.

Note: Small spills you can easily clean up, but for major spills call a professional. Toner particles are very small and normal vacuums will only serve to spread the mess. A toner professional will have a toner vacuum and save you a big headache.

Q: Exactly how many times can you shake a toner cartridge before it gives up?

A: Honestly, there is no exact science to how many times you can get a toner to keep going. The reason shaking it works is because toner is a dust and it settles. Shaking the cartridge loosens the toner so the cartridge can use it.

Q: Can I shake an inkjet to get more use out of it?

A: Shaking an inkjet cartridge is of no use. Ink cartridges have a sponge inside of them so shaking doesn’t do anything.

Q: How many times can you remanufacture an ink jet cartridge before it wears out?

A: It depends on the cartridge. Some cartridges are made well and can be remanufactured up to 9 times or more. Other inkjet cartridges are not made as well and some manufacturers have gone out of their way to make sure you can’t remanufacture their cartridges at all.

Q: What is the best way to dispose of my printer?

A: This depends, if it is working I suggest donating it to your favorite charity or Goodwill. If it doesn’t work you can bring it to JetScape and if it’s worth fixing we can fix it and donate it, or you can take it to your county’s Solid Waste disposal.

Q: What is the best way to dispose of empty cartridges?

A: Taking your ink and toner cartridges get to a responsible remanufacturing center it the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of them.

Q: Why don’t I ever get the number of pages it says out of a cartridge?

A: The yield number on cartridges is based on an industry set standard of 5% coverage on a page. 5% is the equivalent of 5 about sentences. Most people print much more than that per page thereby reducing the number of pages they can get out of their cartridge.

If you ever have an issue or questions regarding anything ink, toner, printer, or copier related please don’t hesitate to call me at 239-481-1272 or email me at Amanda@jetscape.com. I’m always available to answer your questions.

More Disturbing Ink Information

• There are more than 350 million cartridges thrown away every year in the United States.

• Recycling your toner cartridges decreases the amount of plastic, aluminum, rubber, and steel that goes to landfills each year.

• About a gallon of oil is burned to make a one new toner cartridge.

• A used cartridge can be remanufactured up to 4 times saving up to 3 quarts of fuel each time.

• It is estimated that 100 million laser printer cartridges and 400 million ink jet printer cartridges are produced each year.

• Remanufacturing these 500 million cartridges will save an estimated 4 million cubic feet of landfill space.

• In the next seven years, if all laser and inkjet cartridges are saved from landfills, a bridge can be built from the Earth to the Moon – 223,000 miles.

• The Plastic used in a typical cartridge is made of engineering-grade polymers and takes at least 1,000 years to decompose.

10 Ways to Save and Even Make Money by Going GREEN

Everyone knows that saving money is good. What businesses are starting to realize is that consumers are beginning to make decisions based on how “eco-friendly” a business is along with other determining factors such as price. I am going to give you ten simple ways to begin to go GREEN that will save and possibly make your company money.

1. Replace Light Bulbs

Replace as many light bulbs in the office as you can with CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) CFLs use 75% less energy than traditional light bulbs. This is a very easy way to reduce the amount of electricity your office uses on a daily basis.

2. Turn Off Machines

Another great way to save energy is to turn off all your office machines at the end of the day. The little bit of effort it takes to switch off the fax, copier, printer, computers, and all the lights may save an inordinate amount of money on the electric bill every month. You’ll start to see your savings right away.

3. Check for Leaks

Another way to save money is to make sure the office doesn’t have leaky faucets, or toilets. The EPA claims that over 1 trillion gallons of water is wasted per year due to small water leaks in homes and businesses. Most of us know the sound of a running toilet or leaking faucet, but some leaks are silent. Test for a silent leak in the toilet by adding food coloring to the tank. If the color of the water in the bowl changes without a flush, you have a silent leak.

4. Cut Paper Usage

Switch to an E-Fax service like Snappy Fax. This gives you the ability to fax from your computer without printing out a copy. This small step will save you more paper than you realize.

5. Duplex

If you absolutely have to print use the duplex feature on your copy machine or printer as much as possible. If this is done effectively you can cut your paper usage in half. With paper being one of the largest expenses in an office, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to cut that bill in half.

6. Use ALL the Paper

Even following the above 2 guidelines, you’ll still probably have some prints that aren’t necessary. Flip these over and use them for scratch paper or put them in the fax for incoming faxes. Make sure to mark the used side so there is no confusion between new data and old.

7. Upgrade to Laser Printers

Laser printers are by far the most efficient option for printing. There is a larger initial investment; however, the amount of money you save per page will offset the initial investment and save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

8. Buy Refurbished Equipment

You can save the office money on the initial investment and even on upgrades by buying refurbished or remanufactured equipment. Make sure that you are dealing with a reputable company that offers a guarantee or warranty, and you will get a product just as good as new for half the price.

9. Use Compatible Ink

Not only does this save the company money, but most remanufacturers will buy back the empty cartridges that you already have. This can turn trash into treasure and actually make the company money. Compatible or remanufactured cartridges also have more ink in them than the original so using them reduces your cost per page.

10. Recycle

This really goes without saying; everyone knows they should recycle. Many of the things you recycle can make you money. Any metal, even the soda cans around the office can make you money at the right recycling plant.

It is becoming more and more necessary to be cognizant of the environment in our everyday lives. I have always found it best to stay ahead of the curve, and these small steps should help get your business there. I hope these ten tips give you and your office  a head start on the way to being greener and more profitable.

6 Tools to Keep on Top of Work

I honestly can’t believe how busy it has been here at JetScape this week! I am so sorry I haven’t had the chance to post!

So in an effort to help us both out, I want to discuss how stay on top of the chaos that can sometimes become our work place.

I am a “utility” employee. I do my best to fill any need that JetScape has. I do paperwork, customer service, dispatching, social media (across the board), face to face networking, order filling, collections, website updates, and anything else I’m asked to do. We are a small company so it is nessecary to make full use of every employee we have.

I’m a great fit for this because I get bored rather easily (Maybe it’s the ADD). So this can make it really difficult for me to stay on task and get everything accomplished during my day. I am currently using a number of tools to help me with my dizzying array of tasks.

• Desktop- My desktop only has icons I use daily. If I am working on building a spreadsheet and it is a top priority I drop it in the middle of my desktop. If I’m done working on something I put it away in a folder or file and get rid of the desktop shortcut. This lets me use my desktop as a reminder of what I’m working on and it’s importance.
• Microsoft Outlook Calendar- I use this in conjunction with my iPhone calendar to remind me of the things I have to do everyday or on a scheduled basis. For example, call collection accounts, write a blog post, and write the monthly newsletter.
• Firefox- Ok we all know Firefox is great. I love it. I leave my Tadalist, HootSuite, Constant Contact, WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, and JetScape all in tabs so when I open my internet I am already heading in the right direction. Firefox also gives me the ability to grab a tab and make a new window. I work with two monitors so there are times when I want to reference one page and write on another and this ability is great. Firefox also saves all my passwords so I don’t have to find them every time I want to log in to a page.
• Tadalist.com – I use this to schedule tasks that are often unceremoniously dropped on my desk. For example building a database, calling a certain segment of the customer base, things to change on the website. This tool is fantastic because I can make several lists consisting of steps to take to complete a project. It lets me feel like I am accomplishing a big task by breaking it up into smaller tasks.
• HootSuite- They make it easy to schedule and browse tweets.
• Constant Contact- Fast and easy way for me to schedule emails and newsletters and keep track of email addresses.

Well I hope some of these tools can be of help to you. If you have more tools or ideas to help all the “utility” employees of the world feel free to comment. I am always appreciative of hints and tips.

Happy New Year!

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.

-Brooks Atkinson

Help I Need Your Questions!

I have been asked to write an article for a local paper called Southwest Florida Business Today. I really want to do a Q&A session but I have been in the printer/copier/toner industry for too long and forgot all the questions I had when I started. Some of my Facebook Friends have chimed in, but I really want to know what you want to know about printers, copy machines, fax machines, ink, toner, or re-manufacturing cartridges, anything office machine related. I will answer your questions and post the article here when it’s done as well. Thank you so much for your help!! Please leave your questions in the comments or email me at amanda@jetscape.com

Office Feng Shui

I recently ‘inter-met” (met via internet) a really cool guy in the copier business. His name is Nathan Dube and he has a pretty neat blog called Adventures in Office Imaging. They have some neat stuff over there (like a printer that prints on soda cans). Nathan was gracious enough to give me this guest post about the benefits of Feng Shui. Let me know what you think!

Feng Shui The Chinese art or practice of positioning objects, especially graves, buildings, and furniture, based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects. Definition from answers.com

Ok, set aside the mystical aspect of this concept and your left with a principle that is most useful in managed print services. How so? Well one of the most important aspects of managing an offices printers and or copiers is the location of a centralized printer as well as the location of smaller desktop laser printers or MFPs. If Chuck from accounting is printing on a machine that has a higher CPC and is doing a thousand prints a month while Susie from sales is using a machine with a lower CPC and does one hundred prints a month then you can see where the principle of said ancient Taoist art comes into play. Such a situation needs some business grade Feng Shui.

Arranging, adding or removing your printers and copiers in a way that is going to maximize productivity and keep your document output costs down is a huge part of MPS and regardless of how much better your positive “qi” energy is flowing when your MPS provider makes said arrangements, additions or removals you will be saving money. One could argue that by making your CEO happy you may very well bring about such positive energy.

Yes, Virginia

Original Clipping Newspaper Clipping from 1897

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Time to Relax

Tell me if I’m wrong…

but I thought the holidays were a time to relax and spend time with family. Seems to me like everyone is so caught up in the hustle and bustle they don’t have time to truly enjoy the holidays. Do yourself a favor… sit down… take a breath… don’t worry about perfection. The holidays are about family and faith, don’t let it turn into toys and hassles.

Have very happy holidays, whatever your faith!!