How To Green Up Your Coupon Printing

I think that there used to be a stigma surrounding coupons -- that it wasn't "cool" to cut them, or that only hard-up people resorting to using them -- but I believe that all of that has changed thanks to the tough economy.

Everyone that I know uses them every chance that they can get now and though it requires a little investment of time to cut them (or locate them online and print them), it's hard to deny the savings -- sometimes, it's soooo significant that you feel a little adrenalin rush :)

I've noticed that increasingly more retailers are making online coupons available which on one hand is nice, but on the other hand, you have to print them on your own computer using your own paper and ink resources.

Trust me...it's not exactly green -- in fact, I've often lamented how much of a waste it is (paperwise) since a lot of the coupons you can only print one at a time.

My sister just passed along the following green coupon printing tips to me (courtesy of "A Thrifty Mom") and I really think that they are worth adopting -- hopefully everyone in this community will find them to be handy:

a) Use the back of scrap paper to print your coupons on -- children's schoolwork, papers from their teachers, misprints from other projects ~ anything that has print on one side but not the other. Clean out old binders and old files to find "new" sources of coupon printing and utilize office recycling bins for misprints or pages that are no longer needed. Of course, you'll want to be cautious as to what you print on the back of ~ make sure your personal or any sensitive information is not going to end up on the back of your coupon.

b) Adjust your printer to print at a "fast normal" quality or you can also select only a "grayscale" print, which means that the printer will print your coupons in black and white. Both of these cut the amount of ink used and makes your ink go farther. Stores used to be particular about taking black and white printed coupons, but these days the bar codes are better, scan more easily and are tougher to forge. This has expanded the acceptance policies and has made it easier for all of us.

c) Purchase ink cartridges at a discount -- there's even an occasional nationwide "free ink day" available at Walgreens, but even if the promotion isn't occurring in the near future, the drug store offers very reasonable $10 and $15 refills for a comprehensive range of common printer brands, including Sharp, Okidata, Brother, HP, etc. When your ink cartridges are empty, don't forget to take them back to Staples for a $3 "rebate" which not only helps your wallet even further but also is a little easier on the planet. 

Do you have any additional tips to share that can green up the process even more? If anyone has figured out the secret formula for how to print more than one coupon on each side of a page, please spill the beans!