Results from Lexmark's State of Printing Survey

According to a news release issued in July by Lexmark on their corporate site, the American consumer by and large have a "guilty conscience" about the carbon footprint they are making for our planet. The survey also revealed that many of these people do not know which of their printing practices have the largest impact on their footprint, and also that women are care more and are more knowledgeable about green printing than men.

Here is a list of the top five things global consumers said, according to Lexmark's results:

91 percent would rather fix a technology device under warranty than dispose of it
85 percent would often choose the most environmentally conscious printing option if given a "one-click" or "one-push" solution
84 percent are more likely to buy a product if the manufacturer shows more responsibility and concern regarding recycling
75 percent feel guilty about printing unnecessary pages
64 percent INCORRECTLY think that the disposal of ink cartridges is the largest cause of pollution from printing

Women vs. men on green printing

Of the people surveyed in 21 countries, according to Lexmark, women are much more likely to be "green" than men. Over two thirds of the women surveyed said that they would feel guilty about disposing devices as opposed to repairing them and printing unnecessary pages. Still significant, but less than the women surveyed 63% of men felt guilty about disposing devices and 71% felt guilty about printing unnecessary pages.

Carbon Footprint

There are differences of opinion between this survey (Lexmark's State of Printing) conducted by Lexmark and a separate Lexmark survey (Lexmark's Life Cycle Assessment) in regards to the largest part of a footprint. This survey felt (erroneously) that ink and toner combine to form the biggest environmental threat. The Life Cycle Assessment survey on the other hand found that people felt that their paper consumption was the largest environmental threat.

Other key points from the survey include:

75% of respondents are aware of their environmentally unsavory habits, but feel that manufacturers could do more when it comes to consumer education about these impacts
U.S. consumers are outspoken when it comes to printing pollution, but less knowledgeable when compared to their international counterparts
U.S. consumers prefer to spend their money on products created by environmentally-conscious manufacturers

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