Wednesday, April 13, 2016

How To Achieve 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.

Proper utilization of raw materials and resources should be a priority in any printing firm. Such may include ink, water, paper and electricity. Only include the vital information in the brochure so as to use as little space as possible. You may need to experiment a few times before figuring out what information is most vital to your target audience. Having a design in which the paper is folded several times may help eliminate the need for too many pages.

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.

Deciding to go green may increase your operation costs in the short term but the long term returns are worthwhile. For some people making the shift from the conventional methods may be too expensive. The option in this case is to outsource the entire process or part of it. Just make sure your chosen service provider has the necessary environmental certification.




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