Keeping the earth and yourself in the black

You might recall the proclamation that we are becoming a paperless society.

I don't know about you, but I keep printing. First, I installed a very thirsty inkjet printer that came as a bonus with my Dell PC. To fulfill its constant craving for ink, I first bought cartridges, then changed to a more thrifty solution, filling 'er up myself with ink and syringes from Costco.

It was a pain in the butt to be sure. But it saved me money.

Then I moved on to a higher-quality laser printer and the stakes got higher, about $85 just to replace the black ink cartridge.

So what's a consumer to do? Similarly, what is a business owner, whose printers are humming all day long to do?

I like the solution presented by Cartridge World, a franchise that recently set up shop in Cherry Hill. These folks refill and recondition cartridges for as much as half the cost of new ones.

The business is run by a husband-and-wife team, Marty and Thea Long, who are so gosh darn nice and helpful you won't believe you're in New Jersey. Thea is pictured here, refilling a cartridge with one of 130 distinct black inks the business carries.

So before you go online and order those cartridges, consider conferring with pleasant, informative flesh-and-blood folks who are hell-bent on helping you. An additional bonus: Thea tucks chocolates in each and every package.