Rethinking Print: Image Processing Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Font Choice on Toner Reduction

Although printing is essential, it has considerable environmental implications. Manufacturing toner or ink relies on petroleum extractions, emits toxic chemicals, is energy-intensive, and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, it contributes to substantial waste, microplastic pollution, and environmental contamination. This study explores reducing toner usage through font selection; 30 common fonts were analyzed through the English alphabet to measure baseline toner efficiency and the “lorem ipsum” paragraph to account for letter frequency. Following x-height normalization to eliminate cross-typeface size disparities, the results revealed that “Century Gothic” proved the most toner-efficient, reducing pixel coverage by (48.4%) compared to “Rockwell” in alphabet tests and by (39.8%) in lorem ipsum paragraph analysis, respectively. While refraining from printing remains the most sustainable option, this study highlights font choice as a simple yet impactful step toward more sustainable printing practices. In this context, the study’s results contribute to the “Responsible Consumption and Production” targets, the 12th goal of the Sustainable Development Goals.