Just as turning off the lights in your home helps save electricity, finding effective ways to recycle can help save the environment and your pocketbook. Ink cartridges are no exception to this rule. Recycled ink cartridges are very easy to refill, and you can usually  save on average 33% (but as much as 70%) from the retail value, but how do ink cartridges affect the environment? What can I do as an individual to help?

Discount remanufactured ink cartridges are an incredible way to both help the environment and save money. Large amounts of pollution are created each year due to the millions of pounds of ink cartridges that are just thrown away. Recycling ink cartridges allows the materials that were used in the manufacture of the ink cartridge to be used again and again, which will save oil used to create the plastic casing. Plus, the fact that these are remanufactured and recycled, you save money as opposed to paying for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Empty printer ink cartridges are made of non-biodegradable plastics and metals. These substances, if put in a landfill, will take over 450 years to break down! In addition, the chemicals used make up printer ink as well as the chemicals that make these inks resistant to fading, are also quite detrimental to the environment. Capable of seeping into the soil and finding their way into the ground water, these chemicals can eventually get mixed into other bodies of water.

Remanufactured laser toner cartridges also save energy. OEM ink cartridges take 3.5 quarts of oil each to manufacture. With one billion ink cartridges being thrown away each year, the result is 875 million gallons of crude oil disappearing straight into the landfill! If we learn to recycle our ink cartridges as well as other plastic products, our dependence on foreign oil could be cut drastically.

Being conscientious with the printer ink cartridges that you use is a great environmentally responsible, as well as financially responsible, choice. Recycle empty cartridges and buy remanufactured ink as much as possible, Mother Earth, and your checkbook, will thank you.

Are you ready to make the switch to remanufactured ink cartridges? Printerink.com has already done your homework for you. Printerink.com has information on the top six online ink cartridge companies right at your fingertips and can provide you will all of the necessary information and reviews to make your remanufactured ink cartridge purchase as quick and easy as possible.

Do you have the type of business where crisp, clean, good-looking copy is required at all times? Is it imperative that your printed documents last over time because they are important business records? Do you want the ink to dry quickly and be able to handle your documents or photos sooner?

Do you print out photos that you don’t want to have fade or discolor over time from heat, sunlight, inside bright lights, humidity, etc? Do you want the ink to be durable enough to resist such incidents as smudging, water spillage, rain, and more?

Photographs are very precious, and the thought of losing them and not being able to pass them down to the next generation for the children to know their older family members is unthinkable. If you agree to the above scenarios, you seriously need to consider using original ink cartridges rather than refilled or remanufactured solutions. If you use an ink refill kit and try to do it yourself, you will find that the ink is not the same good quality as the original ink, that it runs out quicker, or that the printer heads on some cartridges cannot be re-used.

Original printer ink cartridges are often expensive, and every business person likes to save money and not add to the expense of office supplies; but an ink cartridge that does not do its job is not worth it in the long run. Also, if you have to run copies over again because the first attempts did not come out right, you have wasted money doing that.

You have to consider the quality that an original ink cartridge produces from the very beginning and how long you need that item to last for the good of your business. While it is likely that a refilled or remanufactured ink cartridge can be fine for personal letters, for business purposes it is taking a risk that is not worth it in later months or years. In some printers refilling is not even possible. Durabrite inks used in some cartridges contain a critical cleaning agent that keeps the printer’s feeder tubes and nozzles clean, so refilled cartridges will not work properly. A countdown circuit in the cartridge can cause it not to print after a particular number of pages. Some manufacturers embed circuitry so only their ink cartridges can be used.

A good original ink cartridge can produce documents that maintain their black text for possibly decades without the readability fading out.