Save the Earth and Money

Good News: There are eco-friendly—and cost effective ways—to build awareness about your organization and its work. Your print projects and your organization can look good, while treading lightly on the earth.

When consumers were asked how much of the country's municipal waste in landfills is composed of advertising mail, almost half said 50%—the correct answer is just over 2%.

The Earth—Your Choices Matter

Printed marketing campaigns that gain support and publicity are the lifeblood of organizations. By printing “green,” you send a powerful reminder to your audience that you care and embrace all good causes, as well as your own.

Choose paper that is 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW), processed chlorine free (PCF), uncoated, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, made using renewable energy sources like wind or solar power.
Use vegetable-based inks, which are low in VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and competitively priced.
Look for a printer that uses renewable energy sources.
Try waterless printing, which eliminates dampening systems, or digital printing, which avoids the use of film and chemicals.
Avoid using glue binding, adhesive, foil stamping and shrink wrap.
For exhibit or signage materials, opt for dye sublimation, digital printing or appliqués rather than solvent-based inks. Look for fabrics made out of recycled materials.

Producing 1 ton of virgin uncoated paper requires 3 tons of wood, 19,075 gallons of water, and generates 2,278 pounds of solid waste.

Dispelling Green Myths

Eco-friendly means lower quality. When recycled paper first came on the market it was rather brownish, but today’s recycled papers provide a white, bright printing surface.

Printing green is always more expensive. Carbon-neutral printing is no more expensive than traditional methods; vegetable-based inks are often competitive with petroleum-based; and many recycled papers are less expensive than virgin.

Soy inks are less vibrant. Actually, soybean oil’s clarity allows pigments to reach their full potential, resulting in deep, rich, bright colors.

Based on supply and demand, the more often recycled papers are requested, the more competitively priced they will become.

Vegetable-Based Inks: The Rub

Vegetable-based ink is naturally low in VOCs.
Vegetable oil’s clarity results in deep, rich bright colors.
Vegetable inks show a greater rub resistance—especially important to newspaper readers.
Vegetable inks are competitive in price with conventional inks since most of the cost comes from the pigments. Vegetable ink provides more intense color, so printers can use less ink, thereby reducing cost.
Vegetable ink maintains its stability throughout the entire print job, so the press operators make fewer adjustments and reject fewer copies.

When using Pantone colors, avoid those containing barium, copper, and zinc—mostly metallics and warm reds.

How to Tighten Your Belt

Consolidate Mailings—for example, instead of holding four mail campaigns a year, try sending three eco-friendly ones. The positive publicity generated by going green may improve response rates.
Design multifunctional projects — for example, a self-mailer brochure.
Gang print projects as much as possible— for example, print business cards and postcards from the same recycled paper at the same time.
Print fewer pages by keeping your text concise— not only do you save paper and cost, you provide a better product for your reader.
Develop a combination of print and web-based communications— for example, long reports can be made available on the web with a shorter summary printed and distributed.
Work with your designer and printer to become familiar with industry standards— Many factors contribute to the cost of a printed piece, including the size of the project, the press used, the time of year, the number of pages and the binding.

If You've Got It, Flaunt It

Let your constituents know that you are printing on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks and wind-powered presses.

Add a simple line of text explaining how recycled methods were utilized.
Include discreet symbols for Forest Stewardship Council, Soy Seal, Processed Chlorine Free, recycled paper, etc.

KEEP IT EXCLUSIVE

Offer to bring all or most of your work to your printer and designer in exchange for discounts.

GO! Creative, LLC can lead you down the path to powerful, environmentally-friendly communications at an affordable price.