Try posting some pictures of the rainforest devastation over the printer so they can the true results of clicking the "print" button.

Make sure they know how to print to PDF too. PDFs are easier to work with and reference anyway!
Source(s):
http://current.com/items/89123518/the_devastation_of_the_rain_forest.htm

Permalink | Report

Well, if you are not in a position of authority at your school then you might try talking to someone who is in a position of authority. Convincing your peers is going to be tough, but convincing someone whose pocketbook is involved with the decision-making could go a long way.

The money angle is probably best. It simply costs them a lot of money to print that much paper, and to maintain printers under heavy use. You can start your talk with them by bringing up the environmental angle, but then transition into a more substantial argument. Between the two, it would be really hard for them to deny you.

The big question for me is, why do you care so much? The paper industry is a sustainable one. We actually wouldn't have nearly as many trees if we used drastically less paper. It's similar to how we have a lot of cows because we eat them. It is precisely because we use a lot of them that we have need for there to be a lot of them. However, I can understand being bothered by waste. If people are not recycling the paper they are using then that's a complaint I can get on board with. I am not one of those people that thinks using paper is inherently negative. I will agree, though, that there are better options than trees for producing paper. Industrial hemp paper would cost a lot less to produce than the current wood pulp paper because industrial hemp is a weed that can grow in almost any condition in any part of our country.
Permalink | Report

As a fellow law student, you probably won't have much effect, because Law School is too frenetic and competitive for the kind of awareness campaign you describe to take root. If, however, you can get the administration make some changes, you might be able to alter behavior. I would not try to limit people at the time they are printing, because during that moment of panic they probably believe that any price is worth it. But if you can set up recycling drop-offs, and create some kind of real or virtual cost for the amount of paper delivered, then people would start to think about it when they are past the point of panic. Next time, a note of caution might creep in. Obviously, the cost wouldn't be too burdensome in the real world, but some kind of competitive score for those who keep paper production low would engage most law students. Cause that's how they roll.
Permalink | Report

You could make the suggestions to:

• switch all printers to default to duplex printing mode. Students could still change their individual settings to print single-sided if needed.
• switch to recycled paper

Taking choice/complexity out of the students' hands is the only way.
Permalink | Report

I'd speak with the Admin staff at your workplace, the ones that send out email notices and do timesheets, etc... At our University all the Admin have a little blurb at the end of all emails:

"GO GREEN!

PLEASE - Print this message only when absolutely necessary...."

It's in a nice green font color and just reminds everyone about best conservation practices. And of course you, and anyone else that may sent multiple emails can also include this little blurb.
Permalink | Report

I agree with you on the printing less paper. The legal profession, legal field, and law students in general are behind the eight ball with this, and for some reason they print a lot of unnecessary paper. For some reason, printing paper is thought as being acceptable for law professionals, but it should not be. Do you carry around a Kindle? Get one, and start telling people this book isn't made out of paper. Go to Amazon, and say you will promote the Kindle at your law school. You can also get a plastic logic reader and do the same. Everything you do that has less paper involvement will set a good example for the others. I believe it starts with you, and if you start, and lead by example, everyone might just follow.

Start a recycling club, ask your peers if they know that printing too much paper is not good for our environment. Let them know, speak up, and speak to the administration if you have to. More recycling containers is not always needed, as much as more consciousness to what people are doing, what they are printing, and how to decrease printing.
Permalink | Report

At my last gig I worked on a site called www.studentsplanttheseed.com, which is all about exactly this topic. Includes a petition to get schools using more electronic filing options for admissions paperwork, most notably (transcripts and such). Has statistics on how many trees your school is killing, etc... (Though the site is targeted at the highschool->college connection, you may still find some interesting stuff to use.)
Source(s):
www.studentsplanttheseed.com And I don't work there anymore (got laid off), so nobody go telling me I'm spamming :) I don't even like them, but the idea is a legit response to the asker's question.

Permalink | Report

Leave the copier empty.
Make them ask for paper and then only give them the amount they need to print.
Permalink | Report

No comment with EXTREME reservations.
Permalink | Report