Rural primary school cuts costs and CO2 emissions with EcoTank printer

Studham Church of England Village School near Whipsnade in rural Bedfordshire has just less than 100 students, aged from two to nine years old

Studham Church of England Village School near Whipsnade in rural Bedfordshire has just less than 100 students, aged from two to nine years old, and has an outstanding Ofsted education rating. As an instrumental part of the community in picturesque Studham, the school employs just under 15 staff occupying four classrooms.

With no IT personnel employed in-house, IT duties are assumed by Headteacher Dr. Paul Burrett, which includes but is not limited to the management of: telephones, computers, internet, projectors, and printers.

Until recently, the school relied on one main laser printer unit for the entire school, which they leased from a printer manufacturer that also provided an automated service delivering printer consumables the school had run out. “While we had no issue getting printer ink and paper, our biggest issue with our printer was maintenance and waiting for spare parts. The number of times we needed to call in for service support meant that I was on a first name basis with the service engineer”, says Dr. Paul Burrett.

In addition to worksheets and other printed items for the classroom, the school also prints their newsletters for parents to avoid relying on the recently installed broadband service, a common practice for schools located in a rural setting.

“Having always been a fan of Epson and as an EcoTank customer myself, I thought I’d read some online reviews to see how Epson’s EcoTank would compare against competing brands for the classroom.”

Paul calculated that by investing in four EcoTank ET-4500 printers, one for each classroom, and one ET-16500 (to meet the requirement of having at least one A3 printer) by the reception, he could save the school £2000 each year in ink costs provided they could last at least 18 months. Paul decided on EcoTank and had each printer connected to one network to give teachers the printing flexibility in case one unit runs out of paper or ink.

“The printers have nearly lasted the 18 months I need them to in order to fully benefit from the £2000 saving, and since switching to EcoTank, printing has been one less thing to worry about. I wasn’t previously aware of the high energy consumption and eco footprint of a laser printer – it’s just not something you normally think of when it comes to printing – so knowing that I’ve reduced the school’s carbon footprint simply by changing printer is a great comfort.”

The included ink of an EcoTank is equivalent to up to 88 (household recyclable) cartridges, and savings of EcoTank versus other Inkjet printers or laser printers can be calculated on the Epson website.