When buying a copy machine, it is a must to take into account the environmental impact of the copier throughout its life cycle with regard to to manufacturing, packaging, usage, shipping and disposal.
The first environmental pro to purchasing a refurbished copy machine is getting rid of the need to buy all the raw materials required for coming up with a new copier, thus reducing the end users carbon footprint. If you were to take into account the amount of carbon produced through manufacturing and shipping a new machine, buying a refurbished one is your best bet.
The apparent ‘green’ advantage to buying a refurbished copier is the lessening of the wasteful dumping of perfectly serviceable machine. It would take decades, if ever, for those plastic materials that an ink cartridge is housed in to be able to decompose completely. More to these, printer ink must be properly disposed, considering it is non-biodegradable and not-so-friendly to the environment. Buying a refurbished copier will allow you to rest assured that a copier will not end up in a landfill, which would in turn reduce waste.
Another approach in terms of keeping your office environment-friendly is to buy a refurbished copier that comes with the ENERGY STAR label. According to the EPA, making use of an ENERGY STAR copier can lessen the machines annual electricity bills by almost 60 percent, through shutting off after a period of inactivity. High-speed copiers possess a duplexing option that when set to double-sided copies can lessen paper usage by at least 25%.
If your copier is not ready for the landfill, refurbishing it can be an ideal place to start. However, if you deem it ready to retire, purchasing a refurbished copier is unquestionably the environment-friendly approach to replacing it.
