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Pay-for-Print Policy Reduces Campus Use by Two Thirds

After its first year, a new Pay-for-Print policy has reduced overall paper use in student computer labs by as much as 66 percent.

In fall 2009, a total of 2.6 million pieces of paper were used, according to page count meters attached to printers in interdisciplinary computer labs managed by ITS. By fall 2010, due to the new policy, that number had fallen to 894,000 pieces; a reduction of 66 percent or more than 1.7 million pieces of paper.

The policy began in fall 2010, when HSU implemented the policy that has students paying for each page printed (black and white prints are $.04 and color prints are $.25 each). Previously students had paid a single $5 fee that allowed for unlimited printing. Under the previous fee structure, in one 30-day period, academic computing staff collected about 52,000 sheets of wasted printouts after the labs closed.

That waste is equivalent to an estimated six trees a month—48 trees a school year. This waste does not take into account paper that students take with them that is lost to recycling.

Additionally, most students used far fewer pages than the $5 per semester fee covered and effectively subsidized the minority who printed many more.

The new policy calls for students to use preloaded C-Cards (campus I.D. cards that do double duty as a debit card in dining facilities and the HSU Bookstore), which are connected to the user’s account when they log in to a computer. Funds are automatically deducted when the user selects print, and cards can be reloaded at several locations on campus, including the web at http://c-card.humboldt.edu/.

For more information about Pay-for-Print, visit http://humboldt.edu/its/payforprint