Have you approached Microsoft and/or Apple? I hope my next computer has your software already downloaded!   — Gale Tichenor, Huntington Station, N.Y.

Hayden Hamilton, CEO of GreenPrint.

Our ultimate goal is exactly that — to be pre-loaded on the next computer you buy. GreenPrint solves a problem nearly every computer user has — and the solution applied globally would save tens of millions of trees and hundreds of millions of pounds of CO2 every year, while saving consumers billions of dollars in ink and paper. We would love to talk with Microsoft and Apple about how we can work together to achieve that goal. If you’ve got Bill’s or Steve’s number lying around, send it our way. We’d love to give them a ring.

How much does your product cost?    — Magdalena Bogart, Los Altos, Calif.

GreenPrint is $35 for the Home version and $70 for the Enterprise version (although the coupon code EarthDay2007 is, I think, still valid for $5 off either).

We also sell a font called EverGreen that reduces paper consumption by 15 to 20 percent, when compared to Arial and Times New Roman. The font sells for $10 and works on Macs or PCs.

Would you consider offering your software at no charge? What about partnering with a larger organization like Google?    — Sara Graham, St. Louis, Mo.

Giving the software away at no cost is a tough business model. It reminds me of a Saturday Night Live skit about a bank that only made change. The president of the bank says, “Our customers sometimes ask how we can make money just making change. Our answer: Volume.”

We do currently offer the software at no charge up front to large organizations in exchange for a portion of the savings it creates. At the moment, we don’t have the ability to make the same offer for smaller organizations and home users, but we are continually looking for ways to make it more accessible to everyone. Our goal is to get GreenPrint on every computer out there; however, without generating revenue, we’ll never get there.

We would also like to demonstrate that environmental ideas/products can be turned into profitable businesses. If we gave the software away at no cost, not only would it lead to the end of GreenPrint — and any future products or feature improvements — but we also would not be able to provide an example of successful green entrepreneurialism.

A4 paper — an international standard or an extra inch of waste?    — Kate Mannle, Seattle, Wash.

Like universal health care and the metric system, the “A” standards seem far too sensible for us to adopt (the Bush administration is also currently investigating the possibility that the A standard may “hate freedom”). The A standard is better than “letter” because A’s more easily facilitate scaling (A3 is twice the size of A4, which is twice the size of A5, and so on). Adopting the international standard would probably significantly reduce waste.

I am curious to hear your perspective on corporate America, specifically in regards to why it was not for you.    — John Suhar, Milwaukee, Wis.

I was once asked by an executive at Ford if I could spend a few minutes to help him spruce up a PowerPoint. Seven iterations and three days later, we had custom stop lights for bullet points and tons of bells and whistles. I visited his office on the morning of the fourth day, and he said, “This is exactly what I wanted. However, I just got out of a meeting with the VP of Marketing, and he reminded me that this is crunch time so we should just worry about substance and not waste any time on formatting. So could you go back and spend some time making it look like we didn’t spend any time on formatting?”

Ford had some amazing pluses. They had incredible benefits and a great work-life balance, but even while leading the innovation team, I never felt as if there was an opportunity to have a significant impact. The bureaucracy made any substantive change almost impossible, and I felt as if I was constantly trying to do the right thing for the company in spite of red tape that made it nearly impossible. Ironically, it was the offer of a big promotion that ultimately led to my decision to quit. I decided that, as nice as the lifestyle was, if I wasn’t passionate about the work and couldn’t be effective, it wasn’t worth it.

What did you do in order to get ready to “take the plunge” so to speak when you started your first business venture?    — Erika Hennessey, Basking Ridge, N.J.

It may not seem very insightful, but the best piece of advice I received during my M.B.A. at Oxford was from a successful entrepreneur who was asked a similar question. He responded, “If you want to be an entrepreneur, just start something — anything! It doesn’t matter if your first venture is successful or not. What you’ll learn will be invaluable in eventually creating a very successful business. There are always a million reasons to wait to start something, but almost invariably, the future doesn’t make taking the plunge any easier.” However, another successful entrepreneur I recently heard answering questions said, tongue in cheek, “The only thing you need to be a successful entrepreneur is tenacity and a willingness to forgo an income for 10 years.”

My advice would be a combination of both thoughts. Find an idea that you are passionate about as soon as possible, and run it by as many friends, family, and potential customers as you can before moving ahead. If you don’t have enough savings to pay your cost of living while you are getting things going, see if you can work part-time to pay the bills. It’s a really tough road, but I can’t imagine anything else being as much fun.

When you get a short list of ideas, feel free to if you’d like some feedback.

I work at a university where those mountains of extra paper can be found at the print stations. How can we get the software?    — Joey G., Ithaca, N.Y.

We have a 50 percent discount for educational organizations and environmental nonprofits, in addition to volume discounts. For large universities (over 1,000 users), we will provide the software at no cost up front in exchange for a portion of the savings that result.

The waste reduction potential on a per-computer basis — especially in the labs — is enormous. We have a pilot running right now with the largest university in Oregon and a number of other local colleges and universities have purchased or are piloting GreenPrint. We are always interested in setting up more.

We also offer free pilots of the Enterprise version so you can try it with 50 to 300 users and see if you like it. Feel free to if you’d like to discuss further.

Where can I get the software for MS Word and Epson printers?    — Laurence Topliffe, Fairfield, Iowa

GreenPrint works with every application and every printer, so it will work with both MS Word and your Epson printer, as long as you have a PC.

When will your Mac edition be released?    — Kate Mannle, Seattle, Wash.

Not soon enough! We’ve had trouble finding Mac developers with relevant experience (as well as the budget to pay them). As a result, we’ve had to push the launch date back, but we hope to have a Mac version out before the end of the year.

Are you single?    — Victoria, New York, N.Y.

Are you?