Are You Green?

Probably the noisiest advancements in printing are directly related to environmental causes. Eco friendly production. Recycling. Saint Patrick’s day flyers. Ah, well, maybe not that last one.

Are you green? Do you care? Some say we’re destroying our environment, and that our children will have a dead planet to enjoy. For those of us who don’t subscribe to that extreme point of view, it’s still obvious that taking care of our environment can make our quality of life much better.

Take Southern California, for example. I flew into LA in the late 70s, and I distinctly remember the brown layer that pulsated underneath our plane. For a kid on his first big overseas adventure, that was an eye opening view. Los Angelenos, to their credit, mobilized to clean up their mess and now Southern California is a much nicer place to live. I got to enjoy living in Southern California as an adult in the late 90s, about five miles from the San Bernadino mountains, and on some days I couldn’t see them (which is frightening when you know how BIG those mountains are). Nevertheless, they’ve made huge strides forward to a better life for everyone.

So. In what ways do we (as printers) focus on environmental issues?

1. Post-production recycling. I don’t think there’s a printer on the planet who doesn’t recycle his off-cuts and wasted sheets (well, maybe in some of those scary countries they might not be so concerned). It’s frightening how much waste and off-cuts we accrue, and it’s important to recycle that waste.
   
   
2. Eco-friendly production. Not sure what that means. Hmmm…. I guess it’s a general catch-all phrase for print production with a view to keeping everything as green and natural as possible.
   
   
3. Soy based inks. Soy inks are made from a form of non-food soy (no, my pressman doesn’t snack on it in the afternoons!), and are a more environmentally friendly, healthy, and safe approach to printing that takes only a small anount of energy to make (about half the energy versus traditional inks). Soy crops require no irrigation, limited fixed nutrients, and leaves fewer agricultural residues than other crops. They also have low levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which helps to reduce air pollution by minimizing toxic emissions. It’s also available in brighter colors, makes paper easier to recycle, and is generally more economical in the long term. Wikipedia offers a good white paper on soy inks. Click here to view Wikipedia’s article on soy ink.
   
   
4. Recycled paper. Most paper has recycled elements (partial post-consumer recycling). However, truly “recycled” stocks are labeled as such and usually cost a little more. The cost to recycle the stock (and some say, the negative environmental impact of it) is more than the cost to produce non-recycled stocks. Recycled stock must be heavily bleached and blended together. Recycled stock tends to look recycled, with flecks of color and texture. For what it’s worth, I’d feel more eco-friendly using synthetic papers (see #5 below) than recycled ones, for reasons I’ll outline next.
   
   
5. Synthetic papers. I’m not talking here about polyester or plastic paper! There are a few fascinating papers on the market today that have absolutely nothing to do with trees. My current favorite is EcoStone. It’s a paper made from lifestone! To be accurate, it’s made with an inorganic mineral powder derived from limestone and a small infusion of HDPE non-toxic resin. And it’s cool. No water is used in its production, no de-inking, no bleaching. Better still, it is biodegradable in direct sunlight. It’s water resistant, grease resistant, and tear resistant. It has a high opacity (hard to see through), it’s easy to fold, AND it’s FDA compliant (21CFR177.1520). The only downside is, it isn’t rated for digital printing because the high temperature settings react negatively to the product.
   Another synthetic stock is called Polyart. Polyart is polyethylene expanded film with a coating. It feels great, but it sounds awfully like plastic; any time I hear “poly” I think plastics. More information can be found at www.polyart.com. Whenever I have my choice, I go with Ecostone - it feels great, it’s durable, and I feel “safe” using it.
   
   
6. Clean up. Press clean up requires the use of cleaning agents. Traditionally these agents have been some pretty nasty chemicals, but with the advent of new technology, the print industry is rapidly cleaning up its act. That’s good news for you, the consumer, the printing companies, and of course the environment.