For those who use printers at home or at the office, you know that the cost of printer ink can be quite expensive. Especially if your jobs require a lot of document printing, having to spend money for good printer ink brands can take a huge toll on the budget. Here are tips you could use that’ll add up your savings and allow you to conserve and prolong the life of your printer ink cartridge.



To conserve printer ink, try to use the draft mode or economy settings as often as you can. This prevents you from wasting printer ink. You’ll, however, have a lighter print out. If you are simply printing a draft anyway, adjust your printer setting appropriately. When printing in draft mode, printer ink will dry much quicker so printing documents will be much faster. Also, avoid printing photos especially if they aren’t needed. Photos consume a lot ink, so refrain from printing them if you want to reduce printing costs. Also practice the habit of printing in Black and White, especially for home computers. Before you print, go to your print dialogue box and select the option for printing in text and images in Black and White. If you get into this habit, you will substantially conserve your color ink cartridge, which is more costly to replace than the black ink cartridges. 



Storing printer ink must also be considered. Keep your printer turned off when you are not planning to use it. Most inkjet printers will clean themselves automatically even if they are not in use. When this self-cleaning process takes place, printer ink will still be consumed so never leave printers on for long periods of time. Another way to conserve ink is to use the Print Preview function.

The Print Preview function is available in almost all computer operating systems. This feature allows you to review your documents before you print them out. This way you can already spot errors and mistakes before printing. By using the Print Preview function, you can ensure that your print outs will be error-free and there will be no need for re-printing. 

If you are only intending to print a certain portion of a web page, do not print the entire page. You will only be wasting printer ink if you do so. Instead, you should only select the portion you want to print by holding down the left mouse button and then dragging the selected area over the text. Before printing, select the Print Selection option. This allows you to only print the selected portion of the page. Replacing ink cartridges can be really expensive, follow these tips and your printer ink cartridges will last a long time.


The ink cartridge for the printer has run out of ink. So how should it be disposed of? Hopefully it won’t be thrown into the trash. Empty ink cartridges that are discarded as trash end up in landfills or incinerators, which is harmful to the environment. Not only does it take hundreds of years for the petroleum-based plastic case to biodegrade, but the remaining ink could also release volatile organic compounds in to the land, air and water supply. The bottom line is that throwing printer ink cartridges in the trash is not a good idea.



The possible damage done by printer ink disposal can be avoided, and consumers can save money and resources at the same time. The first tip is to minimize the number of cartridges that are disposed of by storing printer ink properly so that prematurely dried out cartridges are an exception, not the norm. When storing printer ink, it’s important to remember to leave cartridges in the original packaging if possible, store them in a cool, dry, dark place, and in an upright position. These steps will minimize the amount of wasted cartridges that need disposal.



When it’s absolutely necessary to dispose of printer ink cartridges, there are two other tips that can come in very handy. First, recycle those empty cartridges. Although there are a variety of printer ink brands available, most of them now recycle cartridges, reducing waste and pollution. Empty cartridges can often be returned to the manufacturer for recycling. Some printer ink brands even include instructions and a pre-paid envelope with the original packaging specifically for this purpose. The internet can also be a useful resource for finding places to recycle printer ink. There are organizations in many cities that accept used cartridges for recycling and, sometimes, for cash. In fact, some non-profit organizations collect cartridges and recycle them as fundraisers, so it may be helpful to check with local schools, churches, and other charitable organizations to see if they are currently having such a campaign. The second helpful tip is that ink cartridges can be refilled and reused instead of being disposed. Not only does refilling cartridges benefit the environment by not using more non-renewable resources to produce additional plastic, but their reuse saves consumers money. Refilling a cartridge is relatively easy, and costs much less than buying a new one. Ink refill kits can be purchased online, as well as at most office supply stores.



Lots of options exist for printer ink disposal and it is definitely worth the time to look at all of them. It may seem that trashing empty cartridges is the easy solution, but these tips can help consumers protect the environment and save money too.