No April Fool: Makin Chastises Costco Article

SEWICKLEY, PA—Michael Makin, president and CEO of Printing Industries of America (PIA), has been on a crusade of late in an effort to increase awareness among various industries of the environmental benefits that can be derived from printed communications.

Lately, some misguided articles and campaigns, albeit well-intended, have caused him to take educational measures to impart the true impact that printing, as opposed to electronics, has on the environment. The following is a letter penned to PIA members regarding food giant Costco.

April 1, 2013

Dear Members:

This is not an April Fool's joke. It has been brought to our attention today that the printing industry is under attack by yet another industry giant. Costco Wholesale Corp. is planning to distribute the April 2013 issue of The Costco Connection with an article titled “Good for the earth and business” by Carrie Madren. This article claims to be dedicated to green and sustainability but contains several serious misconceptions about the negative environmental impact of paper and the superior performance of electronic communication.

In an open letter to Costco Wholesale Corp. CEO Craig Jelinek today, I encouraged the organization to consider the facts about print. Printing is the only medium with a one-time carbon footprint with all other media requiring energy every time they are viewed and, additionally, most of the energy is from non-renewable fuels, whereas paper made in North America is made with at least 60 percent renewable energy.

I told Mr. Jelinek that the printing industry in this country employs almost one million people, many of whom are Costco customers. Presenting distortions of fact as Costco has done in their newsletter is a disservice to them.

Facts about our industry, with information for even more resources to dispel the common misconceptions about print, can be found in The Value of Print Flip-Book, available in the Printing Industries Press Online Store; or in a digital version; and most recently as a mobile app for Apple, Android and Blackberry users.

The Flip-Book is an invaluable tool that can be used to give responses to the common misconceptions about print, promote its effectiveness with statistics, discuss the importance of the printing industry and its large economic footprint, and refer to additional Websites for more information.

Let’s all rally behind our industry and encourage Mr. Jelinek to correct the false claims in his April newsletter.

Sincerely,

Michael Makin
President & CEO
Printing Industries of America