Green Printing – Every Day, not just Earth Day

Today’s consumers – your clients – are concerned about the environment.  According to a recent report from GWI “60% of consumers say they’re likely to switch to a brand that is more environmentally friendly than their current brand.”

With Earth Day right around the corner, we wanted to touch on a common question we hear from clients at Infantile Industries – “How can we make our printing greener?”  Believe it or not, there is no official green printing standard.  With that in mind there are several attributes that we offer as an environmentally-minded printer such as:

• We offer the most eco-friendly papers and substrates available.
• By offering soy or other vegetable inks in an effort reduce a project’s environmental impact, we reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals, waste ink, and solvents.
• We refine production processes using lean principles to reduce overall production waste – this not only lowers our solid waste, but it also lowers costs to our customers!
• We recycle as much postproduction material as possible.

Three questions to ask yourself when developing your next print project:

1. Can the job be printed on paper containing a high percentage of post-consumer recycled fiber or even tree free paper?

We offer hemp paper products as well as plantable seed paper products!  There are numerous eco-friendly paper options.  These stocks may look a bit different from your normal bright white coated paper, but we believe that makes your message stand out.

2. Can it be printed with low-polluting inks?

In most jobs, soy- or vegetable-based inks work wonderfully (90 percent of daily newspapers use them for color printing).  We avoid inks containing heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and mercury.  Swearing off these heavy metals can affect the ability to print some brighter more vivid colors, but we can offer solutions!

3. What is being done to improve the recyclability of the print job?

Laminates, foils, coatings, etc., can all affect the recyclability of a printed document. We can help you navigate these decisions and find alternative ways to get your desired effect — through innovative stock offerings and coatings that that won’t inhibit recycling.

Just like anything else, the more you are educated, the better decisions you can make. Let Infantile Industries be your green-printing consultant on your next postcard, brochure, letterhead, packaging, or marketing print project.  It is time your business began embracing green practices every day, not just Earth Day.