Sustainable Printing

I have to think that with the introduction of and ensuing addiction to the internet, we as a society have actually started to print in a more frivolous way.  How many times have we printed that email from Aunt Sally with the funny joke to tack up on our fridge?  How many extra pages of paper printed at the same time due to the extra ads, urls and paragraph upon paragraph of forwarded email addresses at the top & bottom of the message?  How many times did we need to reprint that message because it ended up split between two sheets, got cut off on the sides because of funky margins or some other weird internet-to-printer setting?  Well, GreenPrint is trying to change all that.

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Many print projects can be completed in a more sustainable way if a certain amount of time and planning are put into the process before the order is given to a printer.  In this series, I will focus on a few ways to ensure the most earth-friendly solutions to your printing needs.

Proofing

A proof is a test print of what the final print order is supposed to be.  An accurate proof is supposed to be run in the same format, with the same file on the same stock as the final print run.  In my opinion, the proofing process is the most critical part of completing a print order.  Not only does this allow for mistakes to be caught before the entire project is done, but this also gives the customer freedom to change his or her mind on what he or she wants as a final product.

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I just came across an article introducing a new concept to the printing industry.  Earthtone will be the first of its kind, doing for the print business what Expedia has done for travel.

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Last week I posted about SoyPrint laser toner cartridges .  This is the first company to market ink cartridges filled with soy-based dry toner to the masses.  I was intrigued and needed to know more, so I put a call into the company to get additional information.

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Many projects can be completed in a more sustainable way if a certain amount of time and planning are put into the process before the order is given to a printer.  In this series, I will focus on a few ways to ensure the most earth-friendly solutions to your printing needs.

Graphic Design

This is a crucial part to any project.  I have already discussed how designing your items without a bleed helps save paper, but this is just one way to be sustainable.  Try building your art in a way that can fit more per standard sheet.  Want 4×6 postcards?  Try designing them as 4.25×5.5, which can fit 4-up on an 8.5×11 sheet.  This size still qualifies for the USPS postcard rate, but saves a lot on paper.  Or if you work for a company with a lot of internal documents like forms, handbooks or training materials, can any of these be printed smaller than 8.5×11?  If you reduce the size to half (5.5×8.5), you get twice the materials for about the same price and half the paper use.

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