Save trees, money and homework! A solution to the library's over-printing problem

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:48:32 GMT

By Lily Kramlich-Taylor

Photo illustration by Parker Murray

Joanne Melinson, middle and high-school librarian, has been trying to reduce the amount of paper students are printing in the library. According to Melinson, her efforts—which include a morning meeting announcement, reminders to students and a Lorax “Save the Trees” sign on the printer—have produced some results, but she would still like to see less paper wasted. Melinson said about a month ago the whole school, including students and teachers, used so much paper that it ran out entirely. A few weeks ago, the AP Art History class was assigned to print pictures of art from the Internet. Five other classmates and I were printing our homework from a library computer when Melinson objected to the number of pages we were printing. She told us that if we printed six copies, we would use up all the paper. Our assignment was four pages long. We would have used 24 pieces of paper. After I recounted this story to a teacher, I was told the problem is that Melinson’s library budget was cut, and since the paper comes out of that money, she is worried about the students’ overuse of paper. After hearing that, I understood why Melinson was upset. But when I checked with her, she said this wasn’t the case. The money for the paper doesn’t come from her budget. She wasn’t worried about the cost of overusing paper but rather the environmental ramifications. Melinson said that what many students will do is keep printing the same thing when it doesn’t print the first time instead of figuring out what’s wrong. According to Hannah Frank, accounts payable and purchasing agent, the paper is paid for by the administration, and the toner is paid for by the technology department. Frank confirmed that this year there has been a slow increase of paper use from the students and faculty. I agree that people need to think more about whether what they are printing is really necessary. But our assignment for AP Art History was to print out those pages. If we can’t do it in the library, we will at home or from some other printer. Either way, those pages will still be printed and no fewer trees will be saved. But whether it’s the budget or the environment that has created tension between the students and the library, I propose a solution. Why not have a set number of pieces of paper each student can print a year? If students exceed this amount, they will be charged. This is the system many colleges use. Scripps College gives students 1,000 pieces of paper free. If the students need more, they are charged. Tom Wroten, director of technology, said with the installation of some software, this could work. Every student already has a student ID that he or she uses to log onto the library computers. With the software, the amount of paper printed while the student is logged onto his or her account could be tracked. This way students would have to think about what they print, unless they want to be charged. Like the lunchroom food, the cost of extra paper could be added on to each student’s monthly bill. Wroten said he couldn’t control the amount of paper students print from their laptops, though, since the printer has a USB cord that connects to laptops. If that’s an issue, why not get rid of the cord? Students have e-mail addresses and computer login ID’s, so they can e-mail what they want to print to themselves or use a USB drive to open it. This solution would keep Melinson from complaining and students from overusing paper. And it would also ensure that students can come to class prepared.

The Octagon

Save trees, money and homework! A solution to the library's over-printing problem