Clean & Green Spotlight: PrintResponsibly.com
When I spoke at the Go Green Expo in New York City a couple of months back, one of the companies exhibiting there was a wind-powered printing company from New Haven, offering attractive pricing, eco-oriented design templates, and of course, FSC-certified and/or recycled paper. I have actually seen their wind turbine when I take the bus from New York back home to Massachusetts; it’s visible along the coast, just as my bus turns up I-91.
As it happened, I needed new business cards, so I placed an order. The process was smooth and the cards are high-quality (I did spring for the better paper option than standard, having been burned by some online-order business cards that use unacceptably thin stock. These, if anything, are a touch thick for my taste.)
When you visit PrintResponsibly.com, the first thing you see is a big graphic in the most visible location of the page: “Our commitment to sustainabiity is fundamental to our business and practiced at all levels of our organization. Learn More.”
When you click on the Learn More button, it takes you to https://www.printresponsibly.com/greenguarantee.aspx, which discusses Green printing and some energy saving programs. Six icons at the top lead to drop-down bullet points about Forest Stewardship Council certification, soy/vegetable ink, its waterless process, and reduced-chemical direct-to-plate printing, among other things.
The About page is even stronger on environmental responsibility, outlining six different environmental principles that govern the company. It needs updating, as it refers to wind power as something the company is investigating, when actually it’s already online. But the page demonstrates the kind of holistic thinking we need to adopt as a society, looking at everything from how to reduce inbound trucking to what kind of company car to purchasing carbon offsets to what types of organizations to support in the community. And most of all, a commitment to keep pace with technological developments in printing that enable continuous movement toward Green goals, in an industry that is not traditionally eco-friendly.
