Give Green a Go

When you consider the each American uses one 100-foot Douglas Fir tree in paper per year, Earth Day is the perfect time to consider ways to reduce our footprint and conserve resources. Here are a few things to consider with your designer and printer for your next print project:

Paper
Consider using a sheet made from post-consumer waste. This paper has been used and recycled; and the fibers of the recycled sheet have been reused to create a new sheet of paper. Greater demand for recycled paper has resulted in substantial advances in the quality of recycled sheets. Nearly every paper company offers recycled sheets, so ask your printer or designer for recommendations and swatch books.

Design
While odd-sized brochures may be more attractive and eye-catching, they often lead to wasted space on large printer sheets. If you do have an odd-sized brochure, work with your printer or designer to find out how much waste is on your sheet. There may be enough room to “gang” a postcard or rack card on the same sheet as your brochure. Gang printing saves money, as the only extra cost is the finishing (trimming or scoring) of the additional piece.

Planning
Consider the shelf-life of your brochure or marketing piece. Will the brochures need to be reprinted each time a client or employee leaves or is the content in the brochure timeless? By moving time-sensitive information to inserts or to your Web site, you can extent the life of your brochure, saving costs and environmental resources.

Another planning consideration is shipping both of paper to your printer, and the final product to your office or tradeshow. Rushed air shipping uses far greater resources than standard freight shipping. Plan ahead to allow time for slower ground shipping when possible.

Ink
Digital printing is far more environmentally friendly than traditional off-set printing. Digital printing is most appropriate for projects with a quantity of under 1,000 pieces, and with a sheet size smaller than 12×18″. Postcards, flyers, and trifold brochures are ideal projects for digital printing.