Sustainable Printing

Hopefully you’ve been reading Sustainable Printing for a while and have kept up with my series 10 Ways to Find a Sustainable Printer.  I have been focusing on a new area of sustainability with each post to help print buyers find a green printer whose efforts are rooted in environmental awareness.  By digging a little deeper into your printer’s practices, you’ll be able to determine if you found a truly sustainable printer.  We are really winding down the series, and today (day 8), I’ll be exploring your printer’s community involvement.

Community Involvement

As defined by Merriam-Webster, the term sustain means to give support or relief to or nourish.  Sustainability is the act of doing the above without compromising the resources for future generations to do the same.  When a printer is rooted in sustainability, it’s only natural for them to take an active part in their local community.

This involvement could be in a number of forms.  In my experience, the most common way is through donation or sponsorship of printed materials.  By simply printing the high school’s graduation programs or posters for an upcoming community theatre production for free or at a discount, your printer is helping support local organizations.

Your printer may also host special events for community groups.  It could be a meeting for the Chamber of Commerce members or having an elementary class visit on a field trip.  The company I work for even hosted an art show after hours to showcase a few local artists’ work.  If your printer is using their physical space to help local groups, I’d say they are dug into the community.

In my opinion, one of the greatest and most rewarding ways to nourish your community is to step outside and volunteer your time.  When a company does it as a whole, the reward can be that much greater.  If you see your printer’s employees work together for a good cause, you can feel confident their goals are in line with supporting their community.

Stay tuned to the last 2 days of this series.  Make sure you don’t miss any of my posts by visiting my subscribe page and signing up for my feed.

Photo Credit:  Flickr user dheuer

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