Print Green

Print Green

Printing Green - Not Money

According to Ecology.com approximately 4 billion trees per year are cut down for the printing industries. That's 10 million per day! These reports which lack data due to countries not providing the information, fact of the matter is that they don't even log it themselves (no pun intended).Your first thought might be..."how could they cut down all those trees"?, but in reality most of those trees were planted for industry use by the timberland industries and agricultural departments to provide people with these products. I once read a great quote about cutting down trees..."Not using paper in order to save trees is like not eating salad in order to “save” vegetables." If you think about it, we plant so many vegetables per year and cut them down just to eat, yet no one says anything about that. It takes approximately 10-20 years for a tree to become mature enough to be used as a paper product. For those years it will have provided a valuable ecological service which was fueled by man. In a way we are the balancing act the same way that tribes in Africa view "siafu" ants and carcases. In fact more trees are planted than cut down according to www.tappi.org.

Nowadays, it's almost impossible to find paper that doesn't have some type of recyclable materials in it. Nearly 44 million tons of paper was recycled in 2006 from just the United States alone, which is where one-third of all recyclables come from now. Recent studies has shown that Americans use on average use about one Douglas fir tree per year in paper and wood products. About 37% of paper was recyclable in 2007. An interest fact is that 35% of recyclables was shipped overseas in 2007. 33% of paper is used from trees, while another 33% was used from wood chips from the sawmills, and the other 33% was recycled paper. You're probably asking yourself why don't we just recycle and recycle? We can, but after six times of recycling the fibers get so short that it is required to add new fibers. 

So what's the big fuss all about then, we aren't recycling to save the trees, we recycle to save landfill space. 

There are over 5000 products can be made from recycled products. Here is some of the items:

• Masking tape
• Paper money
• Globes
• Bandages
• Dust masks
• Hospital gowns
• Coffee filters
• Lamp shades
• Car insulation
• Animal bedding
• Planting pots for seedlings
• Egg cartons

Printers have turned to a new method of printing...vegetable and soy based inks. These aren't as harsh as solvents and don't require the same disposal requirements. Here is more information http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/Printing/Inks.htm

Vegetable vs. Soy ink

You don't have to be an expert working in a printing business to care about what inks are the greenest. Either soy-based or vegetable-based ink are both Eco-friendly choices. Which will you choose? It can be a confusing question since soy is in fact a vegetable, but although both inks are more Eco-friendly than the old-fashioned petroleum-based varieties, vegetable-based inks are the best choice. Vegetable ink is derived from a wide base of crops so it's even more sustainable, it isn't even needed in the production of bio-diesel fuel like soy is.

Here is a printer that we found to be "Green" and considers the environment when conducting business.

http://www.graphicfirm.com - Print Firm, Inc. offers quality printed products that are safe for the environment, yet never loose that quality! I was quite impressed with their setup, their website was easy to navigate and I found what I wanted and paid only a fraction of the cost that other sites charge. I've referred hundreds of people so far because of one simple rule...I use them, like their work, and trust they will do what they say.

Q. Do I make anything of referring?

A. Maybe I should start, but no I don't.

About the Author

Gilles Gauthier has established himself as one of the most recognized creative services and marketing experts in the world. He has over 30 years of experience and has won multiple CLEO awards for advertising.

Nail Art:Bright Pink and Green Cheetah print