environmentally friendly printing

Posted by L.A. on Dec 21, 2012 in General | 0 comments

A word about environmentally friendly printing…

“Printing kills trees.” “Electronic communications are environmentally beneficial.” There are many misconceptions about the use of paper and its impact on the environment. Don’t sell paper short—it’s a renewable resource; and here at Printworks, we use environmentally friendly printing.

Have you noticed that just about every bill you receive in the mail extolls the virtues of paying that bill electronically? We’ll overlook that the “PayitGreen” program is in part underwritten by NACHA (The Electronic Payments Association) and try to get to the quick of the message.

Paper: a sustainable resource

The printing industry uses a sustainable, renewable resource that is vital to our economy – paper — which comes from trees. Did you know that American forests have grown by 49% from 1953 to 2006 (The Society for American Forests)? Also, paper used by U.S. printers is made with 60% renewable energy…and over 63% of that print material is recovered by recycling. Now, compare that to the electronic media where “conflict metals” are used in production.

Electronics and “dirty” fuels

The electricity used by computers and other electronics in this country comes largely from non-sustainable fossil fuels including “dirty” coal. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration as much as 89% of electricity comes from fossil fuels. If that isn’t environmentally jarring enough, consider that only 13% percent of the hardware, like the computer you’re using right now, is recycled (EPA stats). The vast majority of the rest is shipped overseas, dismantled and usually burned to recover some metals.

Environmentally friendly printing

Now, we’re not contending that electronic communications are the villains here (or I wouldn’t be using it right now), and that paper is the answer to keep our planet green. But we are trying to clear up some myths. Paper can be great for our planet as well as great for your communication mix. Created and used properly, it answers the call of both being an effective form of communication as well as a responsible environmental tool.

Printworks practices environmentally friendly printing, using highly recycled paper products from sustainable forests and recycling 100% of our paper wastes.

If you’d like more information about environmentally friendly printing, check our main source:
myprintresource.com/article/10686316  as reported by Gary Jones, May, 2012

or contact Tom Scotti at Printworks

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