Going Green – Sustainable Alternatives

In our last installment of Going Green, we listed some specific examples of environmental conservation measures that were recently implemented here at Still Creek Press. This post will be dedicated to a few of our manufacturing process improvements that have enabled us to become a more sustainable, green printer.

Our knowledgeable production staff can be a valuable green resource for both you and your marketing communications team in helping make what we hope are better choices leading to more efficient use of printed materials and a smaller impact on the planet.

Green Printing Process Improvements

Our research indicated that there were many opportunities to reduce waste and improve the environmental footprint of our print-production equipment, chemistry, and workflow. We evaluated our production areas, the front office, lunchrooms, and the shipping and receiving area. We examined the following environmental issues first because they were identified as having the largest beneficial impact:

• Reduce Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions. The steps included: Putting lids on containers of solvents and not using open buckets for storage of liquids. Utilizing our many UV Ink Presses whenever possible. We attempted to use as much of the alternative lower-VOC-containing products we could source from our vendors.
• Recycle every possible scrap of paper and cardboard from the pressroom, bindery, and front office. Recycling printing plates, rollers, plastic containers, and metal or plastic banding. Establishing a source for recycling obsolete computers and other electronic equipment.
• Re-evaluate the way our facility handles its liquid waste. We had adopted a computer-to-plate technology over five years ago allowing us to remove an environmentally costly film-processor from our premedia department. We only use alcohol-free fountain solutions on the press-room floor.
• The front office and the maintenance of the plant and surrounding grounds. We have begun to use recycled paper towels and bathroom tissue. Our janitorial staff only uses cleaning products that are safe for the environment. We use no pesticides or fertilizers on our lawns or landscaping.

Eco-Friendly Printing Materials

There are a growing number of choices that both ourselves and our customers can make about the printing materials consumed (such as inks and coatings) and the paper and other substrates on which we print. Making greener choices helps us—and our customer—move down the path toward greater sustainability. Here are a few examples:

• Lower-VOC inks and coatings and opting for those that have higher renewable-resource content (such as vegetable oil). Water-based coatings and UV-coatings have lower VOC content than conventional varnishes.
• Encourage customers to print on lighter basis-weight stock. Using lighter stock extends the fiber resource and ultimately saves money on paper and postage.
• Actively promote the use of post-consumer-waste (PCW) recycled paper to our customers. In fact, we offer a PCW recycled paper as a house sheet. We encourage all our customers to use papers with as high PCW content as their designs will support.
• As we are FSC chain-of-custody certified and actively promote the use of certified paper as a means of supporting responsible forest management. Our uncoated house sheet, Grays Harbor 100 is also FSC certified.

The Next Step Towards Becoming a Sustainable Printer

For our next Going Green installment, we’re going to measure just how green we are – and that requires assessing our company’s environmental profile using an industry-recognized metric, the Printing Industries of America’s “Environmental Profile Assessment Tool”. This assessment will help us identify areas of strength, areas in which we can still make improvements, and areas in which we may have overlooked entirely.

Check back again soon or better yet subscribe to our eNews to to be notified when it’s completed!

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