typeface
Garamond uses narrower strokes than Times New Roman, and hence, less ink.

When 14-year-old Suvir Mirchandani, a sixth-grader at Dorseyville Middle School, noticed he was getting far more handouts in junior high than he had in elementary school, he decided to do a little research.

That research turned into a science fair project, which revealed how much printer ink various typefaces require in printing the same letters. Mirchandani measured the amounts of ink used to print the most commonly used letters (a, e, o, r and t) in four different typefaces. Ultimately, he concluded that by switching from Times New Roman to Garamond, the Fox Chapel Area School District could reduce its ink consumption by 24 percent and save $20,000 annually.

Mirchandani issued the same challenge to the Government Printing Office which the national press picked up during his repeat appearance at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair last week.

Read more about it on CNN.

Matthew Wein

Matthew Wein is a local writer, editor, blogger, storyteller and proud native Pittsburgher. Once described as "a man of things," he covers city design, spirits and craft beer for NEXT, where he keeps all of the editorial meetings light-hearted and interesting. His interests include sorting books, looking at old things and candles which smell like old-growth pine forests.