Good Questions: Help Me Find a Green Printer

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Here's a good question from Futureaunt:
I need to buy a (low-volume) home printer and want to make the most environmentally responsible choice. I promise I will avoid printing whenever possible. And I will print on both sides, even if I have to manually feed it. And I will find out how to refill my own ink cartridges if possible. And I already got my old, dead printer recycled. Given that, does anyone have recommendations?

My goal is to get something:

Not too too expensive.

EnergyStar qualified.

Relatively speaking, doesn\'t use up ink cartridges like crazy. I read that something that uses single cartridges is best.

If there are other environmental considerations I should have, please advise.

We blogged this HP Dekjet Printer not too long ago. It's EnergyStar certified and made of mostly recycled plastic. Check it out.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Comments (3)

Honestly, I'd like to see a printer company come out with ecologically friendly inks. I don't think that the ink that you can get for them (refilling them yourself or not) is that great for the environment.

I went with a laser printer. The ink won't dry out since it is already in powder form. I've had my printer for 4 years and am still running on the original cartridge it came with.

We installed a continuous ink system in our Epson printer well over a year ago and have only recently had to buy bottles of refill ink. The initial outlay is a little expensive but after that it's only $10aus for 100ml of ink. I no longer curb my printing due to price or excessive cartridge consumption. I'm sure they have something similar in the US.

http://www.rihac.com.au/index.php?cPath=26