It’s one of the hottest buzz words around, but what is sustainability? Is it being “green” or having a small carbon footprint? Well, yes. But it is much more than that. According to Don Carli senior research fellow at ISC, The Institute for Sustainable Communications (www.sustaincom.org): “While sustainability encompasses environmental stewardship, conservation, and other ‘green’ factors, it is a broad aspirational concept that seeks to integrate and balance the economic, environmental, and social outcomes of human activity through the use of qualitative action and principles…”\

That’s quite a mouthful, but in his online article Carli breaks it down by saying the goal is to “meet the economic, environmental, and social needs of the present generation without crossing thresholds that prevent future generations from doing the same.” In other words, don’t mess it up and don’t use it up so that there’s not enough left for our kids and grandkids.

How does that apply to the printing industry? In some ways, the same as it applies to everyone else—conserve energy, conserve resources, don’t contribute to pollution or to environmental degradation. While most people would agree that is a fine idea, it’s pretty obvious that we are not putting our money where our mouth is. As individuals, Americans each contribute more than twice as much greenhouse gas as the global average.

Where to Look

There is a wealth of information out there for quick and small commercial printers interested in sustainable green printing. Almost without exception, major vendors have sustainability or green information on their websites. While there can sometimes be an obvious bias toward their own product lines, most offer good information specific to the printing industry and are well worth a look. Just Google the vendor name and “sustainability” or “green printing.” The latest is Heidelberg’s April launch of the web portal www.us.heidelberg.com/eco, which is billed as “a resource for printers and print buyers who want to learn more about sustainable printing and the positive impact it can have on their business—minus the greenwashing and marketing hype.”

There are also several industry specific sites that offer sustainability information and environmental resources. Some of the advice is pretty straightforward: Reduce VOC emissions, cut paper waste, use chlorine free paper, reduce energy consumption, reduce waste water, recycle. Other information is more detailed and thorough.

The Printer’s National Environmental Assistance Center (www.pneac.org) bills itself as “your direct conduit to experts and reliable information on environmental issues related to the printing, publishing, and packaging industry.” That information includes specific national and state compliance requirements, pollution prevention opportunities, training resources, FAQ answers, people and program contacts, relevant news items, listserves and archives, and fact sheets and case studies.

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (www.sgpartnership.org) says its mission is “to encourage and promote participation in the worldwide movement to reduce environmental impact and increase social responsibility of the print and graphic communications industry through sustainable green printing practices.” Guiding principles are using renewable resources with low environmental impact, maximizing recycling and recovery, use of renewable energy, encouraging the supply chain to adopt sustainable practices, and education customers on the benefits of sustainability. The organization offers a qualification process for printers who want to be SGP certified.

The Institute for Sustainable Communications, mentioned above, says its mission is “to raise awareness, build capacity, and foster widespread adoption of economically viable, environmentally restorative, and socially constructive uses of print and digital media.” The site offers a variety of sustainability oriented articles, reports, and “factoids” that are specific to our industry.