tree-killer

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

tree-killer
 n.

   [Sun]

   1. A printer.

   2. A person who wastes paper. This epithet should be interpreted in a
   broad sense; `wasting paper' includes the production of {spiffy} but
   {content-free} documents. Thus, most {suit}s are tree-killers.

   It is likely that both senses derive their flavor from the epithet
   `tree-killer' applied by Treebeard the Ent to the Orcs in J.R.R.
   Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. See also {elvish}, {elder days}, and
   especially {dead-tree version}.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

tree-killer

   <jargon, abuse> (Sun) 1. A printer.

   2. A person who wastes paper.  This epithet should be
   interpreted in a broad sense; "wasting paper" includes the
   production of {spiffy} but {content-free} documents.  Thus,
   most {suits} are tree-killers.

   This term may derive from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the
   Rings"
   
(http://sf.www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf-texts/SF_resource_guide/sfrgft.htm).
   in which Treebeard the Ent uses it to refer to the orcs'
   master, Saruman of Isengard.  Saruman represents, among other
   things, technology at its most misguided.

   See also: {dead tree}.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1999-11-03)