Environmentally Friendly Design & Printing

With the printing process being a potentially huge waste of our environmental resources, there is so much we can do now to reduce our impact on the environment when we order our design and printing. In Australia there are more and more printing companies that are offering environmentally friendly solutions. It's true, it often does cost more, as many environmentally friendly products do, but if you're keen and your company considers the small extra expense to be worthwhile it is certainly possible to be carbon neutral and save our planet in many ways during the design and printing process.

Designers are often the first person to initiate the process, and they need to take some responsibility to offer their clients more environmentally friendly services and steer them in the right direction for their printed product. Even if a graphic designer doesn't manage the printing process, there are still things they can do during the design process alone. For example, use green energy for all your electricity needs such as wind power, solar power and hydro. Recycle any paper waste that is utilised during proofing, or better still, when possible  send electronic pdf proofs instead of hard copy paper proofs. Catch public transport to client meetings when possible. And don't forget to recycle and reuse your empty ink cartridges.

For printing there is a great initiative in Australia now called Greenprint. Certain printers register to be greenprint providers and therefore guarantee to use an environmentally friendly process the whole way through. "The greenprint initiative allows you to easily order printed material safe in the knowledge it will have good environmental credentials." If I know a customer wants to be environmentally friendly with their printing process, I know exactly where to go to order it now, from one of my regular printers who is a Greenprint provider, and this makes it so much easier for me to manage the whole process.

These are the 10 steps as outlined by Greenprint they take to be more environmentally friendly with the whole process:

1. Your choice of Paper

Is it recycled?

Does it come from an a sustainable managed forest?

How is waste and energy used in the manufacturing process?

2. Proofing

Use electronic proofing where possible if hard copy proofs are not always necessary

3.Plating

CTP plating cuts out the need for film and reduces the amount of chemicals needed during the plate making process

4.Inks

Vegetable or soy based inks are preferable as they come from a renewable resource and have many side benefits such as the ability to clean presses without the use of a high solvent cleaner. They don't cost any more the petroleum based inks.

5. Coatings

Some coatings have a lower impact on the environment than others

6. Chemicals

Reduce harmful emissions by using low VOC emitting solvents

7.Energy

Use solar power, wind, water and organic power sources

8.Recycle

Recycle all your waste

9.Carbon Offset

There are plenty of carbon offset programs out there to reduce your impact

10. Donation

When companies register with Greenprint they donate a percentage to environmental charities such as Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors

So you see, there is so much more we can do. In the past I have been frustrated to work at printing companies that don't even recycle their huge amount of paper wastage properly. They would seriously just throw all their hard rubbish in with the mountains of pure paper wastage and make it near to impossible to recycle any of it.

Also I have witnessed large national companies who have ordered mass print runs, and then decided after they have printed several hundred thousand copies that they would like to change one little word in their conditions form and so throw out the whole lot and start again! And wouldn't I like to name names? This sort of thing is so unnecessary and such a waste.

I am so pleased to see the new direction the industry is heading.