How To Implement Brochure Printing That Is Eco Friendly

By Shirley Jones


An increased sense of responsibility towards environmental conservation is causing changes in consumer spending patterns in many markets. The printing industry is no exception. Consumers are constantly looking out for products and services which reflect the values about the environment that they hold dear. For this reason, all businesses need to shape up or will have to ship out in due course. There are a number of things a business can do to implement brochure printing that is eco friendly.

Strive to utilize your resources optimally and minimize on wastage. These include raw materials such as ink, paper and water and other inputs such as electricity. Putting only the essential information on the brochure will help you save on paper requirements. Another strategy that can be used to reduce the amount of paper used is to have a design in which the brochure is folded several times.

Ink is an important input in the printing process. Most of the inks used in conventional printing are petroleum based. During the process of drying, they release what are referred to as volatile organic compounds (or VOCs). When released into the atmosphere, these compounds have a number of detrimental effects. One of them is formation of smog which reduces visibility. For ecofriendly processes, the preferred inks are the vegetable based types.

Using recycled paper is another way of conserving the environment and reduce on operational costs at the same time. Recycling can be made possible in two main ways: using post-consumer waste paper and using pre-consumer waste. Post-consumer waste paper is obtained from products which have already been used and discarded. Pre-consumer waste paper, in comparison, is the excess paper that comes from the manufacturing process.

Reduced deforestation is not the only environmental benefit of recycling paper; a few other benefits exist. For example, less water is needed to process recycled paper as compared to virgin paper. For this reason, recycled paper results in less effluent being discharged into the environment. Conservationists have always expressed concern on the use of chlorine as a bleaching agent for the recycled paper. Fortunately, newer bleaching methods which do not rely on chlorine have been devised.

Other raw materials can be recycled in the same way as the paper. Water, which is one of the most important, is perhaps the easiest to be taken through these processes. Close to 60% of water used in one cycle can be reused. Ink can also be recycled similarly.

Work progressively to increase energy efficiency in your firm. Reduce the use of fossil based fuels in favor of the renewable sources such as wind and solar energy. Old inefficient printers should be replaced with printers which give more output for every unit of energy they consume. You may need to subject them to regular servicing to ensure efficiency is maintained.

When you decide to go green, you may have to put up with higher operational costs initially but the investments will pay you back handsomely in the long term. If the shift is too expensive for you to carry out, then the best option is to outsource. Perform a background check to ascertain that your chosen company is environmentally certified.




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