Green Loop: 5 tips for sustainable printing

TIP 1: CHOOSE INKS WISELY
The National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers, NAPIM, has a rating system for inks based on their renewable content, known as Bio-derived Renewable Content or BRC. Check with your printer on their inks’ ratings. (You can learn more about this program at the NAPIM site; hover your cursor over the Bio Renewable Content medallion.)

Also check ink Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) at msdsonfile.com.

TIP 2: USE RECYCLED PAPER
Choose a paper with maximized Post-Consumer Waste (PCW) content, but also consider the manufacturing processes the company employs to produce the stock. Some manufacturers (like Mohawk) use wind power and/or purchase offsets to minimize their environmental footprint.

Mohawk offers an online environmental calculator that can help track your waste and estimate the monetary and environmental impact of alternatives. Also check out the Paper Finder and Green Printer tools at Re-nourish.com.

TIP 3: RIGHT-SIZE YOUR PRESS SHEET
Determine the most efficient dimensions for your press sheet before you start designing it. Ask your printer to help plan gripper margins, grain directions, bleed, ganged-up print runs, even custom sheet sizes that can more efficiently accommodate your project. Use the Project Calculator at Re-nourish.com to help you create an optimized printing plan.

TIP 4: CONSIDER GREEN PRINTING CERTIFICATION
Seek out certifications such as SGP (Sustainable Green Printers), FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and ISO 14001 (a family of standards developed to improve environmental performance issued by International Organization for Standardization) for evidence of environmentally conscious business practices.

Consider these important questions to ask your suppliers early in your project:

• Do you have any green certifications?
• What environmental policies do you have in place?
• What environmental performance indicators are you tracking and how?
• How do you recycle press waste and other waste?
• Do you use renewable energy or offset your energy use?
• How do you limit the amount of ink waste?
• How do you limit the amount of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the press room?
• What kinds of benefit programs and safety training do your employees receive?

Choose printers who are nearest to the end user whenever practical to reduce transportation impacts.

Resources:

• SGP certification information at the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership site
• FSC Council Chain-of-Custody certification information at FSCUS.org
• ISO 14001 certification information at ISO.org

TIP 5: DEMATERIALIZE FILE DELIVERY & PROOFING
Delivering files electronically via FTP can save time, resources and emissions. As to proofing, cut down on duplicate sets of color proofs when possible, and use soft proofing when critical color match is not a factor. To ensure accurate color runs for critical jobs, expand final proofing on press

The best solution will probably be a subscription to a professional-level, secure FTP provider, but for small businesses and individuals working with budgetary constraints, a number of websites offer free — albeit temporary — file hosting (up to a certain size restriction, usually around 100MB). For more storage space, pricing scales up by file size.

Some free file-sharing solutions:

• Box.net
• YouSendIt.com
• CloudApp.com
• DropBox.com

The images in this article are from perforated cards included in the Loop Living Almanac — handy for posting around the studio. There’s a wealth more of interest in the almanac — get one from your Mohawk rep or order online. Learn more about Mohawk’s new Loop line here.