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Prerequisites to Printing Green
Suzanne Macguire
Fortunately, there are methods that completely do away with the harm caused by traditional printing method. Eco printing or green printing, as is generally called, offers a unique way to safe printing. Environment activists would often recommend doing away with printing altogether to give way to online marketing. But this can never be a feasible solution. By printing green, you send out a reminder to every person on earth about adopting ways that would help save the environment from growing hazards.
Before going the green printing way, make sure you know some of its prerequisites:
Choose paper that is 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW), processed chlorine free (PCF), uncoated, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, made by renewable energy sources like wind or solar power ( Mohawk Paper is a leader in this area), or even treeless (hemp and kenaf are two options).
Use vegetable-based inks or soy inks instead of petroleum-based inks. These alternatives are both low in VOCs and competitively priced. Avoid colors (mostly metallic and warm reds) that contain barium, copper, and zinc, which can cause health problems in humans.
Look for a printer that uses renewable energy sources.
Try waterless printing , which eliminates the dampening systems used in conventional printing. Digital printing, which avoids the film and chemicals in traditional printing processes, is another good alternative.
Avoid using bindings, adhesives, or foil stamps in packaging.
Reduce the amount of inks you use by going with one- or two-color designs; you can also save paper by asking your designer to use standard press sheet sizes.
Familiarize yourself with industry standards. The Environmental Protection Agency mandates that federal agencies must use uncoated printing and writing papers containing at least 30 percent PCW content; coated papers must contain 10 percent, notes Dynamic Graphics.
Many people often cherish the misconception that green papers look cheap. This can in no way be true as advanced technology makes green papers identical to non-green ones. Besides, use of green printer is not highly expensive in comparison to traditional printers. Vegetable-based inks are often competitively priced with petroleum-based; carbon-neutral printing is no more expensive than traditional methods; and many recycled, TCF , and ECF papers are in fact less expensive than virgin. So set yourself on the way to promote green printing practices and help create a better world.
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Article submitted Thursday, September 11, 2008
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