Paper and Printing Supplies Reduction Tip

Are you concerned that you are using too much paper and printing supplies (ink, toner, etc.)  Here's a quick tip for reducing your consumption:

Set a PDF printer as the default printer for your operating system.  This simple step forces you to pause and ask yourself the question, "Do I really need a paper copy of that or could I just file an electronic copy on my computer?"

If you are a Mac OS X user, PDF printing capabilities are built into your operating system.  If you are Microsoft Windows user, simply install the free CutePDF Writer and Linux users can install cups-pdf.

I've been running my home like this for the past several years.  I find it particularly useful when paying bills and shopping online - when prompted for the receipt - print it to PDF and file it on your hard drive.  Make sure to educate all members of your household to print to PDF first, then print hard copies from that if they need them...particularly if you have teenagers in the house!

Of course, this increases the importance of a good backup system for the data in your household...but you already have that, RIGHT?  If not, you might want to read this article at backupreview.info.