These days, it seems everybody is looking for ways to be a little more green and save a little more green, and Cartridge World is no exception.

The company gives consumers and businesses an alternative that can save money and reduce the impact of millions of cartridges thrown away in landfills each year. Most Cartridge World cartridges are refilled or remanufactured locally, the most environmentally friendly way to use empty printer cartridges.

Kevin Buesse, co-owner of the Batavia store at 821 Randall Road, said he’s pleasantly surprised by the number of people who are taking advantage of the service.

Since the branch opened in April of last year, thousands have come in for ink refills.
Almost every kind of ink cartridge can be refilled, remanufactured and reused, saving consumers and business owners up to 50 percent of the price of a new cartridge.

In 2007, Cartridge World USA estimated that its customers helped to avoid one million pounds of carbon emissions by reusing their printer cartridges instead of buying new — the equivalent of removing 100 passenger cars from the road.

“We’ve been green since the get-go because we’ve always been about recycling,” Buesse said of the company.

The Chicagoland area is home to 30 of the company’s more than 1,600 stores worldwide. Each store refills cartridges for most home and small-business printers – including fax, printer, copier, postage and multi-function models – by all major brands, including HP, Dell, Canon, Lexmark and Epson.

George Vasilakopoulos, owner of two area stores and member of the Cartridge World Chicago Co-op Board, said Cartridge World is one of the most affordable options for going green.

“In fact, it’s really a no-brainer,” he said. “You can’t go wrong when you’re also saving so much money. It makes a huge impact on budgets during economic downswings, and we know that our customers feel good about being environmentally responsible.”

For information, visit www.cartridgeworldusa.com.