You would think that once you’ve gone digital, you’re done with printing. That’s not it, you end up printing your emails out or articles. One of my biggest gripes is that these inkjet printers were designed for these companies to make money. Sustainability was probably never considered. It’s attractive to be able to buy a nice printer at a low price but you later find out that the cartridges are expensive and wasteful. Who knows what kinds of toxic stuff goes into those inks?
As a designer, I print a lot to communicate a concept or to proof something. I’ve always hated dealing with printers in general, inkjets in particular. Color calibration, the messy inks, the hassle of buying cartridges, the damn nozzles get clogged, paper jams and all those reasons I mentioned in the previous paragraph–the wastefulness of it all. I’ve always had an inkjet printer but never had to use it much until I started working from home. The cartridges generally dry out if I don’t use it.
Gripe #1: Printer cartridges are pricey. The idea of spending sixty bucks on two cartridges (1 color, 1 b/w) each time is a big pain.
Gripe #2: Both cartridges need to be full before it works. I needed to print out something in black and white and the color cartridge ink was out, my printer won’t print it.
So here I was at Office Depot late at night trying to buy ink that I don’t really need. I started looking at the refillable ink kits but they didn’t have any for the Epsons.
Gripe #3: The guy at the store told me that Epsons are virtually impossible for refilling. Secondly, the guy at the counter wouldn’t take my old cartridge for recycling nor that $3 discount because it was a different type.
The reason why I bought an Epson in the first place is that one of my designer friends told me that the colors are more vibrant. Who knew I was being bad to the environment at the same time? I was glad to see that ink refill kits are more common at the store now. I wonder how well they work. After these two new cartridges are used up, I’m going to donate my printer at a recycling place.
