Lexmark International, manufacturer of home and office inkjet and laser printers and multifunction devices, commissioned a report from Ipsos Public Affairs, to understand how men and women around the world feel when using products like those Lexmark produces.
It turns out there's a lot of guilt out there... and concern about the effects that printing and printing technology have on the environment.
Today we talk with John Gagel, Manager of Sustainable Practices, about the results of the "State of Printing" survey and Lexmark's sustainability focus.
Here are the questions that John and I discuss in the audio interview:
- Your survey indicates that consumers "have a guilty conscience about their carbon footprint when using their home and office technology." Are they just "wringing their hands until they've washed their hands," or are consumers actually beginning to act on their expressed values?
- Product designers - like the industrial designers who work with the engineers to create the Lexmark printers - have an opportunity to use design to influence consumer behavior. You've got a number of initiatives in place to influence users with promotions and information; how do you envision your product design can change the way consumers' printing habits?
- Double-sided printing capabilities are not included in most low-end desktop printers, do you envision that such functionality will become standard in all printers?
- Even though paper generated by laser or inkjet printers is the largest contributor to the equipment's carbon footprint, your research shows that users think it's the ink and toner. While you're working to change the perception, what are you doing to make the ink and toner more environmentally friendly?
- It's logical to recycle the hardware at end of life. However reuse can be a better option over recycling. Are you reusing parts and remanufacturing equipment as well as recycling it?
- Is that (remanufacturing) a move you're seeing happen because more companies are global now and countries like Germany are requiring it?
- Is something you'd like to say; is there any other point that you would like to make?
