As a media topic, the GFC has been largely left behind leaving the way clear for issues of CleanTech, carbon reduction and sustainability to once again dominate the agenda. There’s lots of talk around whether Australia is capitalizing on the opportunity to lead the way in CleanTech as well as speculation and debate around government and opposition plans for emissions reduction. This is all leading to a sense of uncertainty over what any carbon reduction scheme will look like and its impact.

But this uncertainty is no reason for businesses to stand idly by. It’s very likely that Australia will commit to a carbon reduction target and that measures will be put in place to meet that goal. Whether this prompts organisations to take drastic measures like replace their vehicle fleet with electric cars is a topic for others to discuss, but there are much easier ways for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.

One is to put a focus on printing. A recent audit of our customers found an average carbon emissions reduction of 32 percent, by reducing their print volumes and printer numbers without impacting their printing requirements.

If every company in Australia did that then we could reduce our country’s carbon emissions by 3.6m metric tones a year – that’s the equivalent of planting 10,500 more trees. (Note this is based on some loose calculations and is in no way intended to be statistical fact..)