GREEN scene
Green Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for Eco-Friendly Machine
MIAMI--Original Impressions recently announced a series of "Going Green" initiatives, while unveiling its newly installed Heidelberg XL 105 printing press. The announcements were made at the company's two-day open house held in conjunction with Earth Day.
At the event, Founder and CEO Roland B. Garcia Sr. provided opening remarks on the evolution of the company's business plan to include environmentally sustainable initiatives. Additionally, Bill Eline, sales manager, Heidelberg, was on hand to discuss the eco-friendly attributes of the new printing press. The press will allow Original Impressions to significantly decrease its carbon footprint by reducing CO2 emissions generated by material consumption and printing processes of the press by more than 5 percent, paper waste by up to 80 percent and energy consumption by more than 15 percent.
The events culminated in the Garcias being presented with a proclamation from Miami-Dade County political and environmental officials honoring the company's eco-initiatives, which include receiving triple chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
Making a Green Stand
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY--Xerox Corp. brought a deeper shade of green to its environmental sustainability efforts at Drupa 2008. The company's initiatives included a stand that was designed, constructed and staged in a sustainable way, and a range of offerings to help Xerox customers go green.
The 3,500-square-meter stand was built almost exclusively from recycled or reusable materials and components. The two-story exhibit structure was assembled using reused steel formed beams, and the sheet materials in the walls and displays used recycled board and sustainable forest timber. Xerox plans to reuse a lot of the structure at future events and to recycle most of the remaining materials.
Energy-efficient overhead lighting and video screens used 40 percent less power and generated 60 percent less heat than more conventional alternatives. To minimize its carbon footprint, Xerox sourced builders, materials and products locally, and used a virtual platform for planning and designing the stand, reducing air travel by more than 170 flights.
The company also debuted a new educational brochure offering insight, tips and techniques for sustainable printing and communication services, titled "How Green is Your Print Shop?" And, a new category was announced for the company's annual Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging (PIXI) Awards, which recognizes environmentally sustainable print practices.
'Oh, Dear. . .'er, Deer!'
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY--Promoting its environmental initiatives at Drupa 2008 with its "Hei Eco" campaign, Heidelberg offered daily Hei Eco tours for visitors to observe and demonstrate environmentally friendly solutions for commercial printing. Throughout the Heidelberg booth areas in Halls 1 and 2, seven large toy deer were strategically positioned to indicate environmentally friendly applications.
Each deer was manufactured by Steiff, a high-end toy manufacturer well known by collectors. At least some of the toy deer had motion-detector anti-theft devices attached to prevent them from "walking away."
The deer have become the Heidelberg icon for this topic and may soon appear in more places. As part of its Drupa-specific environmental initiatives, Heidelberg also announced on World Environment Day (May 5) that it would be offsetting the environmental effects of all printed products created each day at Drupa.
Heidelberg also used the show to invite printers to submit entries for the company's first international environmental award for sustainable sheetfed offset printing. Heidelberg is setting aside a total prize fund of 50,000 Euro for the winners.
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PRINTERNEWS
Henry Wurst Inc. has received FSC certification at all four of its facilities: North Kansas City, MO; Denver; Apex, NC; and Burlington, NC.
Cal Poly's student-operated/managed printing and publishing company, University Graphic Systems, was recently awarded FSC certification. Located in San Luis Obispo, CA, it is reportedly one of only two university printing facilities to ever receive this distinction.
FSC certification has been obtained by AlphaGraphics for all of its 229 U.S. franchise locations.
Exton, PA-based Brilliant Graphics has been FSC certified.
FSC certification has been earned by Kelmscott Press, Chicago.
Packager MWV in Richmond, VA, has received certification from the SFI and PEFC for its four U.S.-based paperboard mills, two U.S.-based sheeting and extruding facilities, and 12 integrated package converting plants in North America, Europe and Asia.
FSC certification has been awarded to Custom Index, a manufacturer of index dividers and file folders, located in Totowa, NJ.
SUPPLIERNEWS
SMART Papers has broken ground on a $30 million energy production center at its mill in Hamilton, OH, which will use carbon-neutral, 100 percent biomass fuel. By late 2009, all SMART Papers coated and uncoated printing papers will be produced fossil-fuel free with completely renewable energy. By late 2010, the high-efficiency, co-generation facility (known as the Southern Ohio Papermaking Center) will supply green, renewable energy to Ohio and other Midwestern states. The project will also generate carbon credits that can be bought and sold on the open market.
A "Green Options" program has been developed by Envelope Mart USA of Northwood, OH. The FSC- and SFI-certified, trade-only manufacturer of custom-printed envelopes is now offering more recycled products and products made with wind power, as well as shifting to eco-smart inks with lower VOCs. The company is also switching from window films that contain petroleum to 100 percent biodegradable materials made from corn.
Vector Performance DI private label paper, from xpedx, has achieved Green Seal certification. The 15 percent post-consumer waste (PCW), acid-free paper is manufactured with renewable energy and meets the Green Seal standard for coating composition and heavy metal restrictions, as well as the minimum of PCW fiber.
Domtar announced that its Lynx Opaque paper is now both FSC- and SFI-certified, and that it has achieved "honorary membership" into the Domtar EarthChoice family of eco-friendly papers.
INDUSTRYNEWS
Peter Max Promotes Green Media Show
MERCER ISLAND, WA--A team of vendors came together recently to produce a limited edition Peter Max poster, using one of the greenest workflows available. Created by Max to celebrate SustainCommWorld's 2008 events--The Business of Green Media and The Green Media Show--the poster is a great example of what can be accomplished on a fine art level using FSC-certified paper and VOC-free inks, as well as being printed at a carbon neutral location.
"For me, art has always been a celebration of beauty," says Max. "And what is more beautiful than a sustainable blue-green planet? I am very honored to have created a poster for SustainCommWorld. The media is the canvas, and the more we use it to paint a sustainable future, the better the chances that our endeavors will come to fruition."
The poster was created through the collaborative efforts of the Peter Max Studio, SustainCommWorld, paper supplier Appleton Coated and printer EarthColor. The sustainable printing process conducted by EarthColor included green chemistry principles, virtual proofing, 100 percent wind-powered energy, recycling all residual materials and capturing VOCs from press wash via bio-oxidation. Inks from INK Systems contained zero VOCs and were cured without UV.
The posters are being used by SustainCommWorld to promote The Green Media Show, which will be held October 1-2 in Boston. The first 300 conference registrants will receive a personalized, signed copy of the poster.
Rainforest Alliance Honors Papermaker
NEW YORK--The Rainforest Alliance announced its 2008 global honorees, recognizing them for their sustainable supply chain decisions and longtime support of conservation work, at its annual gala held here in May.
Mohawk Fine Papers was honored for its many sustainable initiatives, including sourcing fiber from responsibly managed forests, using high percentages of recycled fiber in its paper, producing many FSC-certified papers, purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), matching 100 percent of its electricity usage with RECs from windpower projects certified by green-e and manufacturing paper within the company's carbon neutral production processes.
Mohawk was honored as a "Sustainable Standard-Setter" in the Individual/Company category.
