You know the familiar scenario. You’re printing out an important document only to discover that one of the colours is low. You’ve got a couple of choices: head to a local print shop to get a clean print or find the nearest store with a good deal on refill cartridges.
Here at Vancouverscape HQ, we aim to print out only when necessary but when the need is there, we recently discovered our friends at HP have a cool, money-saving and recyclable ink delivery program: Instant Ink.
We found out about this service when our older HP All-in-One finally bit the dust after years of service. We found the perfect model for us at HP Canada online: the HP ENVY 4520.
The ENVY 4520’s ideal for desks with limited space and will print, scan, copy and photo print wirelessly with a super easy set up. In fact, I couldn’t believe how simple setting up one of these newer printers has become.
Along with the initial ink cartridges that came in the box was an offer to set our printer up with Instant Ink.
How Does it Work?
HP Instant Ink lets HP know when you’re about to run low on ink. It’s as simple as that (and owning an eligible HP printer with wireless access). Once you set up a (risk-free) account, you choose which plan is right for your needs.
Plans are based on the number of pages you print each month. Even if you don’t end up using the amount on your plan, rollover unused pages to the next month or buy more pages for a small fee.
If you find you need more (or less), you can upgrade or downgrade one of the plans at any time. Billing doesn’t begin until 30 days after you insert an HP Instant Ink replacement cartridge into your enrolled printer.
The free printing plan allows 15 pages per month at no cost for the life of your printer. Extra pages are billed to your account at the rate of $1.25 per set of 10 pages.
One level up is 50 pages per month for $3.99. With this plan, you can roll over up to 50 unused pages or get a set of 15 more for $1.25.
The third level is 100 pages per month for $5.99. This one’s good for offices that need to send out more hard copies than online documents but again, you can roll over up to 100 unused pages and get 20 more for $1.25.
The highest level is at 300 pages per month for $10.99. Here, you can roll over up to 300 unused pages per month or get 25 more for $1.25.
There’s no price difference between black and white or colour pages and HP Instant Ink cartridges have a higher print capacity than XL cartridges, so you won’t need to replace them as often. Note pricing doesn’t include paper.
HP doesn’t impose an annual fee and you can cancel or change any plan at any time without penalty (cancellations and plan downgrades go into effect after the last day of the current billing cycle).
Going Green
Once the printer knows you’re low on ink, HP will deliver ink for that printer in a postage-paid recycling envelope so that you can return the old ones for recycling via HP Planet Partners.
This eco-friendly program is currently available in over 60 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America.
HP’s Instant Ink program has a smaller environmental impact than buying ink traditionally, with reduced material consumption, energy- and water usage.
Getting ink cartridges delivered to your home or office is not only more convenient than having to go out and buy them, but it’s also helpful in reducing your carbon footprint.
This post produced in partnership with HP Canada.
