Radford University is saving trees through PrintReleaf partnership

Two hundred-fourteen trees are living today because of Radford University’s commitment to reduce its paper usage on campus.

That is 214 trees to circulate oxygen into the air, provide shade, help prevent water pollution, reduce soil erosion, clean the air and combat climate change.

In July 2018, Radford partnered with PrintReleaf, a technology platform that measures customers’ paper usage and certifiably reforests that usage on an equivalent basis. The agreement was established through Virginia Business Systems, Radford University’s print service vendor.

PrintReleaf, with its guiding principle of “You Print One; We’ll Plant One,” measures the amount of paper used in Radford University copiers and printers, then plants trees, equivalent to the paper usage, in stressed forest areas.

Since PrintReleaf began tracking Radford University paper usage in the summer of 2018, its measurement data show the University has offset 1,784,331 total standard printed pages. In turn, PrintReleaf has reforested 214 standard trees.

“Over the last couple of years, this has proven to be quite impactful in offsetting our campus paper consumption; 214 is an impressive number of trees,” said Radford University Sustainability Manager and Selu Academic Program Manager Josh Nease. “We still have work to do, though. We need more of our copy paper purchased to be made with 30%, 50%, or even 100% recycled material; our faculty, staff and students to recycle all paper, rather than sending it to the landfill; and we need to continue our shift to electronic files, rather than paper.”

The Radford University Division of Information Technology had an important role in securing the partnership between the University and PrintReleaf and has led additional campus sustainability initiatives by purchasing energy-efficient machines and using PaperCut software to monitor and reduce printing waste.

Radford University is committed to integrating sustainable practices into all aspects of its operations and engaging students across the curriculum to learn, discover and contribute to positive current and future environmental solutions.