Listen, my children, to today's fairy tale.
Once upon a time, computer manufacturers promised to lift the paper scourge. Ye shalt maintain documents in thy computer, they said. The mounds of paper shall be banished from thy kingdom.
Alas, it did not happen. Paper-spitting printers came to rest upon our desks. And we printed everything, for that made us comfortable.
OK. Enough of that. We're never going to get rid of paper, printers or ink. At this moment, I count 19 pieces of paper on my desk. And that doesn't include the note stuck to my monitor. At best, we can only hope to reduce waste.
When I print something from the Web, I often get a last page with one line. I think that is required by a rule in computer science. Anyway, that page is a waste. It's just a little boilerplate. It really irritates me.
That brings me to GreenPrint. This program will eliminate wasted pages before printing.
Using GreenPrint is easy. Set up to print any document or Web page as you normally do. GreenPrint will start automatically. It will show each page you've selected to print. Wasted pages will be highlighted in red. Those are the ones it will remove.
If you want a removed page printed, double-click it. It will be returned to the print lineup.
You can remove pages manually, too. Double-click any page to stop it from printing.
Furthermore, GreenPrint records everything removed. It'll calculate how much money has been saved. That should make us feel better when we fill our gas hogs!
The free version of GreenPrint is ad supported. It features a banner ad on the right side of the window. All the ads appear to be for environmental or humanitarian groups. An ad-free version is available for $35.
System: Windows XP, Vista
Cost: Free
Link: www.printgreener.com
