The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) actively encourages staff to minimise the environmental impact of printing e-mails through advice to delete any unnecessary text, to use duplex printing wherever possible and to print several pages per side of paper. A prepared message, prompting e-mail recipients to consider the necessity of printing, is available for inclusion as a part of staff e-mail signature blocks.
In the slightly longer term, the reduced distribution of printers attached to the FCO's new desktop IT system will provide a practical means of discouraging casual printing of documents, including e-mails.