Have a green Christmas with Lexmark and Planet Ark

SYDNEY, Australia – 18 December 2012: Christmas is a time of joy and festivities, but it is also the season when businesses and households generate extra waste.
 
Lexmark International and Planet Ark are encouraging Australian businesses to undertake some simple actions to reduce their environmental impact over the festive season, such as recycling, saving power and reducing paper waste.

Planet Ark’s The 12 Do’s of Christmas education program offers simple tips for reducing waste and saving money over the holiday period.  As a long-time partner of Planet Ark, Lexmark is encouraging businesses to consider ways in which to reduce waste, minimise printer paper and power usage during the season.

Research conducted by Lexmark shows that 80 percent of the total carbon footprint of the average networked printer or multifunction printer relates to the consumption of paper. When printing, businesses can take advantage of a number of paper-saving options, such as scanning, storing and filing information in digital format and using duplex (double-sided) printing. Lexmark estimates that using duplex alone can help to reduce a business’s paper consumption by up to by 30-40 percent.

Many printers have power saving features such as eco and power save modes for increased energy efficiency. Using these features and switching printers off completely when not in use over the holidays can provide power and cost savings.

As a founding member of the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program, Lexmark encourages businesses to recycle their printer cartridges. During Lexmark’s ten years as a member of the program, more than two million Lexmark cartridges have been collected for reuse or recycling through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark, resulting in over 2,000 tonnes of material being kept out of landfill.

The 12 Do’s of Christmas action sheet provides helpful ideas for addressing wasteful practices. The full version of The 12 Do’s of Christmas action sheet can be found on RecyclingNearYou.com.au, a comprehensive recycling directory which lists collection locations for e-waste items like batteries, printers and mobile phones, and advice on how to recycle food scraps, foil trays, aluminium cans, custard cartons, Christmas trees, cards and wrapping paper.

The RecyclingNearYou.com.au website and hotline (1300 733 712) were established by Planet Ark in conjunction with Foundation Partner Sensis® and supported by Major Partner The Alcoa Foundation.

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About Lexmark
Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE:LXK) provides businesses of all sizes with a broad range of printing and imaging products, software, solutions and services that help customers to print less and save more. Perceptive Software, a Lexmark company, is a leading provider of process and content management software that helps organizations fuel greater operational efficiency. In 2011, Lexmark sold products in more than 170 countries and reported more than $4 billion in revenue.

To learn more about Lexmark, please visit www.lexmark.com. For more information on Perceptive Software, please visit www.perceptivesoftware.com.

For more information on Lexmark, see the Lexmark Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

For more information about Perceptive Software, please visit the company’s Facebook and Twitter profiles.

Lexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information please contact:
Caroline La Rose
Max Australia
+61 2 9469 5740
lexmark@maxaustralia.com.au