Companies are trying to reduce the amount of printing to a minimum. This is not primarily because of environmental concerns but because of economics. Printing a color page, or even using a color copier, is expensive. What is often overlooked is the impact printers have on the environment. The cost issue is being addressed by companies like Xerox who have programs wherein they supply printers free of cost and charge only a minimal amount per color page printed. This charge is as low a $0.08 per page, which makes printing under this program the cheapest option available.

A conventional laser printer uses toner or ink to print on a page. A color laser printer is actually four printers in one. To produce color images the printer needs to be able to combine Black, Yellow, Magenta and Cyan. This means four separate toner cartridges. And once the cartridge is empty it is junk. The cartridges are not biodegradable so they become pure waste.

Solid ink technology uses a wax based stick of solid ink instead of a toner in a cartridge. The wax melts and is used for printing. Once the ink stick is used up, there is no case or container to dispose of - another stick just has to be inserted in the printer. So no solid waste is produced. Solid ink printers do not produce ozone to pollute the air, like Phaser printers do.

Don't think that because solid ink technology printers are environmentally friendly, they are less efficient than other printers. A printer like the like the Phaser 8560 can churn out 30 pages per minute of top quality color pages. In fact, Xerox says the solid ink produces more brilliant colors than toner based printers.

Solid ink printers are not just environmentally better, they are more economical to use than other printers, especially if a free printer program is opted for and are heavy use multifunction devices.