Government wastes $440 million on printing

The information technology revolution was once hailed as the beginning of a paperless office. Everything would be stored and transmitted on computer, offices would go green, and we would save the dwindling forests.

Turns out this was wishful thinking, certainly for the federal government. Printer manufacturer Lexmark says the federal government spends nearly $1.3 billion annually on employee printing, and wastes $440 million dollars a year--or almost $1 million per day--on unnecessary ink and paper.

The company's survey found 57 percent of federal employees cited the need to have signatures on paper documents as the reason for so much printing, while 51 percent said they had to share copies of documents with others. Overall, 69 percent of federal employees said they believe their agencies "rely strongly on paper trails." In addition, teleworkers reported printing more than twice as many pages in their agencies' offices than in their home offices.

So are old habits hard to shake, or has somebody in government been ignoring the technology that has been available for years? Why not go paperless? After all, this is the 21st century!

For more on printing behavior and ways to save the feds money:
- see this eWeek article