Businesses and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental problems the world faces and demanding solutions. In an effort to reverse this trend of global warming, focus on the environmental impact of printing and advertising will likely continue. One of the production department’s goals at Merrick Towle Communications is to be an active participant in helping our clients make environmentally responsible decisions by introducing ways for making printed pieces like direct mail and brochures more eco-friendly utilizing green printing in marketing efforts.
With Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified papers, the chain of custody is tracked with the goal of steering the market towards well-managed forests. In order for green marketing materials like brochures or direct mail to have the FSC certification logo, the trees used to make the paper pulp must be from an FSC certified forest, as well as the mill that manufactures the paper and the printer who prints the piece. The paper that qualifies for this certification cannot have any fibers that come from old growth forests or rainforests, and avoids areas where logging has led to violence against people and wildlife. The advantage of this program is that it is highly regulated and paper pulp can be traced directly to its source.
Papers with recycled content are also widely available, and have greatly improved in quality over the years. Performance is comparable to paper made from virgin fibers. While any paper that contains recycled content can use the recycled chasing arrows logo, if the recycled content is less than 100%, the recycled paper content must be listed when the logo is used. Paper can also be certified as being Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF), Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) or Total Chlorine Free (TCF), which means they were processed without the use of elemental chlorine, avoiding the reducing, or in the case of PCF or TCF papers, eliminating harmful toxins such as dioxin that elemental chlorine produces.
Some printers have also begun purchasing wind power in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC’s). The purchase of these credits goes towards helping companies that create renewable energy generate electricity. For instance, a printer will calculate the amount of energy that will be needed to print a brochure. The printer then buys credits from an organization such as Carbonfund, who then uses those credits to fund a renewable energy project like a wind farm. The wind farm then produces energy, which is released into the grid. While the printer may not directly draw their power from the wind farm itself, the wind farm negates the need for additional energy to be generated from fossil fuel power plants.
Additionally, for many sheet-fed projects, printers can make printing more sustainable by using vegetable-based inks instead of petroleum-based inks. These blends use linseed, soy or tung oils in and 5% or less petroleum products. Vegetable inks are also easier to strip from paper than petroleum-based inks during the recycling process.
With more and more companies identifying the need to have green marketing materials, Merrick Towle has the ability to offer our clients these options. Besides their ethical benefits, having green marketing materials is a great PR vehicle in reaching consumers. Consumers are becoming increasingly familiar with these methods and their presence on materials helps generate goodwill towards the company.
by Christine Smerker, Production Specialist, csmerker@merricktowle.com
