Business Management - Sustainability

The amended U.S. Lacey Act has already impacted the wood industry, from the investigation of Gibson Guitars to a recently-reported seizure of Peruvian hardwood. Both of these cases involved solid wood products. But what about paper?

We sent samples from 32 imported paper products to an independent fiber analysis laboratory. Samples we had tested came from stationery, paper bags, cardboard boxes, toilet paper, facial tissue paper, wrapping paper, and books—including pages, glossy cover sleeves, and cardboard from hardback covers. All products were purchased from stores and outlets in the United States.

REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) is a national outdoor retailer that provides quality outdoor gear and clothing. Entitled “Next Generation Environmental CSR,” REI’s program to create synergy between profit and planet is the result of a journey the company hopes others may learn from.

As a printer, you know partnership between marketer and printer is a powerful opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of direct marketing.

Join Printing Impressions and sister publication Target Marketing as we settle in for an hour to help marketing professionals understand intersection between (and case for) profitable print marketing and environmental responsibility.

As printers, you can also benefit as we discuss initiatives to make print jobs as environmentally responsible as possible, including:

* More efficient print designs
* Printing processes with minimum environmental impact
* The most sustainable paper, ink and binding materials
* Ways to keep your mailing environmentally efficient
* Strategies to streamline workflow and production processes to minimize your impact on the environment

Click here to view this free webinar!

Testimonies from two printers—Presswrite Printing and Lithographix Inc.—that recently made the decision to stop leaning on “the grid” for 100 percent of their energy needs. Making the move to solar has certainly left these businesses with a sunny disposition.

Printers around the world increasingly are paying attention to reducing the environmental impact of their operations.

Jobs, lower utility costs, and cleaner energy could be in the wind…Goss International, which operates manufacturing facilities in Dover and Durham (NH), created a buzz earlier this year when it announced it was getting into the turbine business. The company agreed to a contract with Massachusetts-based Aeronautica to produce electromechanical nacelle components for midscale turbines in North America.

"We see it as a growth opportunity," said Goss spokesman Greg Norris.

Nacelles are about the size of a school bus and create electricity when blades on a wind turbine spin. Goss is expected to begin production later this year.

The purpose of this new PrintCity 36-page guide is to facilitate the improved collaborative environmental performance of printers, publishers, brand owners and their suppliers. This follows two years of research and "connection of competence" knowledge sharing between members, partners plus external research and academic organizations.

Among the topics discussed, Tapella emphasized GPO’s sustainable paper achievements in the agency’s factory and paper options for federal agencies. GPO employees made history by printing the Congressional Record and Federal Register on 100% recycled newsprint. This accomplishment was recognized by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The Benedictine monks at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Southern Indiana have begun Snail's Pace, a new business venture at their Abbey Press. After closing their long-standing direct mail catalog business at the end of last year, the monks decided to convert their printing division into a "green" print operation, which would reflect the Benedictine tradition and history of care and concern for the environment.

The company will produce a variety of environmentally- and socially-responsible paper goods. With this new venture, the monks will renew their roots in the printing industry, which dates to 1867.

Called the Crazy Sustainable Commute, the one-day event on Aug. 27 challenged like-minded folks to consider breaking away from their normal car/bus/train or other fossil fuel-burning modes of transportation in favor of a greener, if not goofy, trip to work. The idea was conceived by Vancouver, BC, resident Steve Unger and his neighbor, Scott Gray, an account executive with Metropolitan Fine Printers.