Xerox has introduced a Sustainability Calculator that enables businesses to assess the environmental impact of their current printer usage and examine ways to reduce it.The Sustainability Calculator is a product of Xerox's Office Services group, which helps businesses "design and implement the optimal document output environment and processes." According to Patty Calkins, vice president of environment, health and safety at Xerox, "a typical organization's print devices are only utilized 1 or 2 percent of the time." Using the Calculator, a company can plug in information about how many printers they have and what their monthly volume is, and find out the impact on energy usage, solid waste, and greenhouse gases. The user can then try out different optimized printing scenarios and see how much they can save. Calkins said that companies can save between 20 percent and 30 percent on what they spend by reducing equipment to an optimal number.

The Sustainability Calculator comes in two versions. The complete version, for medium to large businesses, comes with help from Office Services in counting printers and doing the calculations. Smaller businesses can use the online version to run the numbers themselves.CNET News, GreenBiz.com