This content was originally published on EdTechmagazine.com
Investing in products that produce less waste and use less energy can lead to big savings in K–12 budgets. Many schools and vendors are already making these changes.
At Saline Area Schools in Michigan, Technology Director Jay Grossman is all in on sustainability.
“We’ve taken a lot of steps to add technology to our district that makes it run better, more efficiently and at a lower cost,” he says. That includes solar panels at the middle and high schools, a shift from fluorescent to LED lighting, and a host of other measures.
From energy consumption to electronic parts waste, technology isn’t always Earth friendly. But technology can also be part of the solution, helping districts meet their sustainability goals while simultaneously trimming expenses.
Among other initiatives, Saline Area Schools has replaced its toner-based printers with inkjet technology. There’s a significant cost savings here, and there are other environmental benefits as well. Grossman’s team doesn’t have to replace fusers — which wind up in landfills — and the MFPs have replaceable ink pack systems.
“We moved over to the Epson WorkForce M21000 and C5000 color machines this summer. They have proved to be more efficient than our old toner machines; they work faster, and they use less energy to run,” Grossman says. “After the initial warmup, they’re using about 75% less energy than our old toner copy machines.”
Read the full EdTech article here.
