Environmentally-friendly Print Design

Lana thought we would be interested in a couple of things. She sent an email, which I'm posting here for the record:

Neenah Paper has recently done a cool thing, from a marketing standpoint. They offer an Environmental Savings Account calculator to print buyers and others (like us) who spec paper.

Also, here are some general guidlines for making environmentally friendly choices as a graphic designer:

* Always spec paper with the highest PCW content available while still fitting the client's needs

* Utilize extensive "paper-free" admin processes, such as PDF invoices, e-fax, online/PDF proofing, etc. Everything is archived and backed up daily to ensure it's there if we ever need it, but really, who needs a copy of a 5-page contract in every job jacket?

* Use soy-based inks

* Guide clients away from pointless fluff that wastes resources and towards meatier materials that save money, build the brand, and create a better impression

* Encourage use of the Web as much as possible for a marketing tool. Particularly for our client base, they can do much better with cool ads/business cards/postcards/simple brochures/e-newsletters/word of mouth that all drive traffic to the website rather than a bunch of different print materials that are soon outdated and wasteful of resources.

* Recycle everything we can in the office, print on both sides of the paper for internal documents that must be printed, and take the environmental impact of our process into account (such as the simple step of shutting computers down at night rather than having them draw power unnecessarily). Use Page Setup to scale pages down in order to print fewer sheets of paper when possible.

* Purchase kenaf paper, kenaf/PCW paper, and 100% PCW paper for office use. Try to purchase recycled-content materials for all office use (including recycled folders, etc). Re-use folders for internal filing where possible rather than using a brand new one for everything.

* Never ever ever print out emails