|
|
|
Most importantly:
Avoid design overkill. Keep
in mind that waste and cost increase with design complexity. If you employ a graphic
artist, make sure they share your concern for the impact your project will have on the
environment and on your budget. If their understanding of environmentally sensitive graphic design includes nothing beyond the specification of
"recycled" paper and soy ink, get a new graphic artist. We can help you
find one. "Donated" work by otherwise talented graphic artists
who are accustomed to working with wealthy corporate clients can sometimes result in
substantial production cost overruns.
Avoid design techniques and materials which are wasteful or which reduce the
probability that the final product will be recycled. Insure optimal use of parent
sheets. Remember that unusual sizes and complex folding specifications often result
in wasted paper, and increased cost and turn around time.
Insist on recycled, uncoated
paper with substantial
post-consumer content for your printing projects. These papers often cost no more
than paper made mostly from virgin fiber, but in the long term, they will save all of us
by lessening environmental degradation and its costs. Use business envelopes made
from kraft paper; they are inexpensive and are unbleached.
Ask for unbleached or
hydrogen-bleached papers.
These are manufactured
without the chlorine bleaching process which results in the creation of carcinogenic
organochlorines (e.g. dioxin) as by-products. If demand for alternatively bleached
papers increases, more U.S. mills may be persuaded to join their European counterparts and
invest in environmentally acceptable alternatives to the highly detrimental chlorine
bleaching process.
Insist on vegetable-based inks for all your printed materials. Ask that the
Soyseal
from the American Soybean Association be printed
somewhere on your material so that others will perhaps take notice and be encouraged to
request soy-based inks.
Ask your printer how hazardous wastes are disposed of in their operation (you may
be surprised at the answer!). Request that alcohol and
alcohol substitutes
not be
used on your projects. Ask for the VOC content of the solvent
used in the pressroom.
If it is higher than 3.5 lbs./gal, request that a more environmentally sensitive
solvent be used for your print job.
Consider reproducing your original by
offset printing at a union print shop rather
than photocopying moderate to large quantities at a non-union, minimum wage, copy center.
If your current printer cannot help you with these items, contact us. At
EcoGraphics, we have
closely scrutinized every aspect of the printing process for ways to reduce environmental
impact and cost. We can help you with every stage of your printing project. |
Contact: info@ecographics.com
|
