Sustainability: Redefining What it Means to be a Green Printer

Print has profoundly changed the world, and now the printing industry is being called upon to profound-ly change itself... so that it can continue to package knowledge and goods for human consumption in ways that address the challenges of sustainability and climate change.

“Sustainability” is the conceptual framework used to redefine the way business is done by Fortune 1000 companies and, increasingly, it will change the nature of demand for printing services, printing equipment and supplies. While historically “green” primarily referred to environmental regulatory compliance, sustainability is a term that encompasses the “beyond compliance” environmental, social and economic aspects of a business, a product or a service.

Being green used to mean complying with the law and “doing the right thing” for the planet, whether or not it was good for business. However, the new green is as much about “doing the right things for business” as it is about doing the right things for the planet. Today, printers and their suppliers will need to rethink what they say and do about being “green” if they want to win the business of Fortune 1000 clients and avoid being at a disadvantage compared to proactive competitors.

Definitions of sustainability typically entail integrated management of the economic, environmental and social performance of business – often referred to as the “triple bottom line.” Most definitions of sustainability also include voluntary management and reporting of environmental, social and financial performance based on principles that seek to exceed ethical, legal, commercial and stakeholder expectations. Sustainable business performance is also typically defined in terms of a number of guiding principles such as accountability, transparency, active engagement and open dialogue with stakeholders.

Many manufacturers of graphic arts equipment and materials have already addressed these issues in their own operations; however, the new green will require them to redouble their efforts to provide their customers with information, education, solutions and support to complete the trans-formation of graphic arts supply chain practices into alignment with the principles of sustain-ability. In that regard, the graphic arts community is facing a “crisis of opportunity.”

Major Drivers

Among the major factors redefining what it means to be green are profound shifts in the attitudes and behaviors of investors, consumers and business leaders relative to sustain-ability in general, and climate change in particular.

Major corporations are being driven to reexamine the standards of conduct and measures of performance that determine how they do business. Business leaders are confronted daily by CNN reports of crime and corruption, rising energy costs and a loss of trust in business. In addition, there are an estimated 63 million adults in North America who are current-ly considered “LOHAS” consumers. LOHAS, which stands for “Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability,” describes a $226.8 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services focused on health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living.

Business leaders from companies such as Exxon, Wal-Mart, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Citigroup and Starbucks are feeling growing pressure from investors, markets, and regulators to address the challenges of sustainability and the impacts of climate change on business, society and the environment. For example, a coalition of 284 institutional investors with assets of more than $41 trillion called “The Carbon Disclosure Project”, has called upon 2,500 of the world’s largest companies to report on the greenhouse gasses emitted by their operational and supply chain activities.

In addition to investor and activist pressure for reporting, demand and action frameworks for sustainable supply chain management and procurement are arising from organizations such as the Institute for Supply Management and the Supply Chain Council. As a result, the world’s largest corporations are scrutinizing the corporate social responsibility performance of their operational practices and supply chain business practices... including what they print, how they print and how print-related products and services are valued.

As businesses wrestle with these issues, they are finding that climate change and the intensifying focus on sustainable business practices can have a significant impact on: how they do business; who they buy their equipment, energy and materials from; their ability to attract and retain talented and motivated employees; which markets they have permission to operate in; and, which customers they are valued by.

As the world reaches consensus on the scientific understanding of climate change and the importance of striving for sustainability in the supply chains of business, companies are increasingly looking at how to: manage sustainability’s “triple bottom lines”, navigate a “carbon neutral” path; and, position themselves for success in an increasingly complex and carbon-constrained world.

For a myriad of reasons, a growing number of large corporations, publishers and government agencies are under pressure to manage the sustain-ability and climate change impacts of the supply chain practices. As a result, many are rewriting their vendor qualification scorecards, putting new environmental management and greenhouse gas emissions information requests in their RFIs and new sustainability reporting and verification provisions in their RFPs.

Increasingly you can expect to be asked:

• How you measure, manage and report on your company’s environmental performance and its carbon footprint;

• How much time your senior management spends guiding your company’s sustainability policy and its sustainability performance strategy;

• How your senior management is recognized and rewarded for achieving your company’s sustainability performance objectives;

• If your company documents the environmental lifecycle impacts, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the products and services that you manufacture and purchase; and,

• What your company is doing to develop continuous improvement strategies addressing climate change and sustainability in graphic arts supply chain practices.

The world depends on print to a far greater extent than is commonly understood. This is not a time for the graphic arts industry to “rest on its laurels”; rather, it is a time to redefine itself in terms of the new green and work together to identify, analyze and act on information relevant to sustainability and the challenges presented by global warming in timely and innovative ways.

About the Author
Don Carli is president of the marketing research firm Nima Hunter Inc., and Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Sustainable Communication (ISC). ISC’s mission is to raise awareness and increase capacity for the sustainable use of print and other communications media through programs such as its Responsible Enterprise Printing Fellowship Program and the Sustainable Advertising Partnership. For more information contact Mr. Carli at phone: 212-922-9899, e-mail: dcarli@sustaincom.org, or visit: http://www.sustinacom.org.