April Program: Green Publishing
Putting environmental awareness into every single practice that a business does—or, to use a well-circulated buzzword, “going green”—seems quite the overwhelming task. Attendees at CWIP’s April program, “Green Publishing: Practical Solutions for the Environmentally Conscious,” learned that greening your business doesn’t have to be overwhelming if it’s done one step at a time.
This and much more information was relayed by Melanie Dolechek, director of marketing at Allen Press, a full-service, environmentally progressive printer and publisher based out of Lawrence, Kansas.
Melanie defined green publishing as a concerted effort to minimize the impact of publishing activities on the environment. Despite the fact that paper use (or paper waste, to some) is a big part of the publishing industry, print products don’t have to be environmentally damaging. In fact, since paper and publishing go hand and hand (at least for the time being), this is even more reason to redefine business models in an environmentally conscious manner.
Melanie outlined five “steps to sustainability” that can help a business go green. These are:
1. Strategy
2. Engage and Educate
3. Implementation
4. Measure
5. Communicate and Report
1. Strategy
The planning stages are where it all begins. You can start by writing up a vision statement, coming up with what your objectives and guiding principles will be, and creating an implementation road map. For some help with these steps, it is important to review the four Rs: recycle, reuse, reduce, and rethink. Can you donate (reuse) your office furniture? Can you reduce your paper and ink use? Can you rethink current habits and change certain practices? Editing onscreen will save a ton of paper, for instance.
2. Engage and Educate
Once the strategy is in place, it is time to get everyone involved. Engage and educate both employees and customers. It may not be as hard to involve customers as you think; studies show that 80 percent of consumers will pay more for recycled goods.
3. Implementation
While there are many aspects of doing business that can be given a green makeover, a company's printed materials offer a great opportunity for improvement. The following are some ways to green your publication.
Paper: Consider the origin of your paper stock. Recycled paper can come from either post-consumer waste (landfills) or pre-consumer waste (trim from mills). Paper can also be made from materials other than wood. Eucalyptus and bamboo are renewable paper sources. But you can also go green with “virgin” wood paper. Look for paper that has been third-party certified, which confirms it was made from wood that was produced in an environmentally responsible manner. Certifying agencies include the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Paper processing is also an area of concern. Paper bleaching involves a lot of unnecessary chemicals. Look for paper that is TCF (totally chlorine free), PCF (processed chlorine free), or ECF (elemental chlorine free).
Ink: Most ink is made from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. Soy inks are a current replacement. Unfortunately, soy inks do not dry well and for this reason most have petroleum included in their composition, some inks as much as 60 percent.
Workflow: Thanks to technology, printed works can be imagined, typed, designed, edited, and proofed without ever touching a piece of paper. For instance, an article or manuscript can be run through “track changes” in Microsoft Word, or a PDF can be reviewed with comments and editing marks. Streamlining your workflow by doing all or most of it digitally can save time, money, and the environment.
Content Delivery: Whether your product is in print or online, remember that both methods consume a significant amount of electricity and raw material. One of the bright spots of the future is the ability to print on demand (POD). Traditionally, printing in mass quantities is more affordable and an easier way to quickly fulfill orders by having stock on hand. Technology is making print on demand more affordable, and printing only what you need, when you need it, means less waste. Also, keep your mailing lists clean and updated. When mail goes undelivered it puts time, energy, and material into a product that doesn’t reach its destination.
4. Measure
Develop a baseline to measure you efforts. Don’t be afraid to ask if people noticed your greening efforts.
5. Communicate and Report
Put those PR skills to work and let everyone know what you’ve done.
These five steps may seem like a lot but Melanie reassured attendees that greening doesn’t have to happen overnight. You can take it in baby steps by starting with just one small thing. She suggests that you “implement some strategies and wait for the technology to catch up with the things you are not willing to compromise on.” Every effort counts and can build to bigger things, both at work and perhaps even as a set of practices you can take home with you.
Tamara Matthews is the Web site editor for CWIP and the communications coordinator for the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors.