Is Printing Green?
The printing industry has drastically changed over the last several decades, but exactly how much has the environmental impact of this industry been affected? As more and more information is created and distributed the printing industry has, and succeeded, in greening their everyday operations.
Whole industries such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) have emerged to ensure that the paper used is coming from sustainable forests. These industries have helped to decrease deforestation rates, and according to SFI, “encourage socially sound practices with processes to address workers’ health and safety; fair labor practices, indigenous peoples’ rights; anti-discrimination and anti-harassment measures.”
By switching from harmful inks that contained heavy metals and high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) to natural plant based inks the industry took one more step towards being more green. Some printers have taken this one step further and have removed these harmful inks as well as hazardous chemicals needed for cleaning and moved completely to digital printing and the use of dry toners. This step has also drastically cut the amount of scrap created through the setup process and test runs of each job.
The switch from traditional lithographic to digital also eliminates a large amount of paper, ink/toner, and facility storage waste by allowing the end user to only print the amount they need at the time. This can also be partnered with distribute and print techniques allowing the product to be created at a facility nearest the final destination, reducing fuel usage and carbon emissions.
To learn more about green efforts in the printing industry please contact Jon Blanc or Janet Glass at enews@midlandcorp.com.