Eco friendly digital printing is something that should be considered by any company that produces large, or even small amounts of printed goods. Reducing your carbon footprint is a responsible and conscientious decision to make and with the rise of green printing companies it is now easy to find a solution. Whilst the most green printed document is one that is not printed at all, sometimes this is a necessity and there are several steps that can be taken to make your productions more eco friendly. Digital printing in a eco friendly manner is often not a more expensive direction to take.
Using recycled paper is something that be undertaken by even the smallest companies wishing to reduce their carbon footprint. Virgin paper that is made directly from trees has an immediate impact on forests and does in fact require the most energy to create. Using recycled paper can save these trees and helps to reduce the use of energy and chemicals. Recycled paper can now rival virgin paper in both quality and cost.
Petroleum based inks have become a standard in the printing industry, however they contain VOCs or volatile organic compounds. These are colorless and odorless gasses that harm the environment and contribute to global warming. They can also be harmful to people working in press rooms that are subjected to substantial amounts of VOCs.
The alternative is vegetable based ink which uses vegetable oil in place of petroleum. The amount of petroleum substituted varies between inks so although they still contain VOCs the amount is substantially less. Additionally vegetable oils are made from renewable sources. The ink from products created with vegetable inks is also easier to remove from paper for recycling.
Designing your printed documents to be more eco friendly can play a large part in eco friendly printing. Some print companies will be happy to consult with you on your designs to see how they can be improved. The first factors that should be considered during your design are the waste potential and size of your documents.
The smaller your document is the less resources it will require to print. You should also consider what potential you are leaving for your information to be updated rather than replaced. The design and binding methods should be considered to allow for updating of information instead of a complete reprinting. This will reduce the waste of your document as well as reprinting costs.
Large solid areas of ink color, particularly darker colors, may render a printed document unrecyclable. This is because of the difficulty and energy intensive procedures involved in removing the ink. When choosing your colors try to avoid fluorescent and metallic colors that are not available in vegetable based inks. If your documents need to be coated consider a water based alternative to laminating and varnishing as these can often not be recycled.
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