Print Pays Off - A Down to Earth Look at Environmental Issues & Trends

Doing business requires maintaining a balance among economic, environmental and social needs. Printing on paper meets those criteria. It's a way to drive business in a renewable way - to be more effective in your communications and to be more sustainable. It's worth printing if you incorporate environmental stewardship in your business, encourage your suppliers and customers to do the same and use printed materials wisely.

According to the latest research on advertising, printed communications are making a significant contribution to the economy and have a positive impact on business. Statistics show the following:

- Campaigns combinging direct mail and internet yield up to an additional 25% response rate.

- Nearly 80% of households either read or scan advertising mail sent to their household.

- Direct mail gives advertisers a whopping 13-to-1 return on their investment.

- Nearly 80% of internet users surveyed said they were directly influenced to purchase an item or service because of direct mail.

- Brand recall is substantially higher using print vs. onscreen. On-screen information is 20 to 30 percent more difficult to read.

- Small and medium businesses still rely on newspaper and magazine articles (43.6%) and direct mail, including letters, postcards and catalogs (43.5%) to get results.

Used wisely, print can drive revenue and be a valuable part of a smart media mix. That's why, for example, U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person in direct mail marketing to earn $2,095 worth of goods per person. They're scoring a return on investment of 13 to 1. With the right mix, it's worth printing.

Sourced from International Paper Company, 2010 edition of "Down to Earth." The full issue is available by visiting IP Sustainability

52 Weeks 52 Works - 2010 AGC Desk Calendar Now Available

Designed, Printed and Distributed by AGC The Creative Advantage, the 2010 edition of 52 Weeks 52 Works is now available.

Academy Graphic Communication’s (AGC) annual desk calendar has served as a stage for the creative community of Northeast Ohio for the past 8 years. This calendar seeks to demonstrate the power of expressing ideas effectively through print and the myriad of collaborative opportunities available with Northeast Ohio’s creative community. The collection represented ranges from sculpture to painting, photography to ceramics.

52 weeks 52 Works was printed utilizing environmentally-friendly, FSC and SFI certified paper containing both recycled content and post consumer waste. The print production techniques are water based, minimizing dependency on volatile organic compund (VOC) laden chemicals. And the inks and coatings used throughout are vegetable-and soy-based, increasing their biodegradalbe nature and ease of recycling.

AGC recognizes that environmental sustainability is a community-wide effort. We seek to showcase local resources, to create greater awareness of the eco-friendly options available within our community and highlight how innovative, forward-thinking individuals and groups can draw on each other’s expertise to make a bigger difference together.

Through our unique efforts, AGC has stayed committed to the renewable print medium and its potential to make a difference in people’s lives while demonstrating how environmental issues can be proactively addressed.

To obtain a copy of 52 Weeks 52 Works please email us today!

Which is Greener: Paper or Digital? The Answer May Surprise You - a ZDNet.com Blog

The DocuMentor Blog recently posted an interesting article on a subject we've been following closely:

Even though my brain is infused with a little too many toner particles, the Doc assumes that anything we can do to reduce paper consumption is good for the planet. But what about the significant impact of digital waste?

For a fascinating read, take a look at this interview with Don Carli, the Doc’s good friend and Executive Vice President of SustainCommWorld LLC and Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Sustainable Communication. Here’s a few highlights from Don:

“Other than pushing the ‘cool’ factor, one of the main selling points being made by marketers of eReaders is that they are greener than print. It is little surprise that the common view held by consumers who don’t know the backstory is that going digital means going green and saving trees. Many are in for a rude awakening. When subjected to ‘cradle-to-cradle’ life cycle analysis, eReading is not nearly as green as many naively assume it is.”

“There is no question that print media could do a better job of managing the sustainability of its supply chains and waste streams, but it’s a misguided notion to assume that digital media is categorically greener. Computers, eReaders, and cell phones don’t grow on trees and their spiraling requirement for energy is unsustainable.”

“Making a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals including gold, silver, and palladium as well as extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. To function, digital devices require a constant flow of electrons that predominately come from the combustion of coal, and at the end of their all-too-short useful lives electronics have become the single largest stream of toxic waste created by man. Until recently, there was little, if any, voluntary disclosure of the lifecycle ‘backstory’ of digital media.”

“Sadly, print has come to be seen as a wasteful, inefficient and environmentally destructive medium, despite the fact that much of print media is based on comparatively benign and renewable materials. In addition, print has incredible potential to be a far more sustainable medium than it is today… and a truly digital medium as well. Despite its importance to business, government and society, print has been cast in the role of a dark old devil in decline. Digital media has been cast as the bright young savior on the rise.”

“Ironically the future of digital media and eBook readers is likely to be based on flexible polymer electronics manufactured using printing presses rather than silicon semiconductor fabrication technologies. In fact, the next generation of eReaders will most likely be digital AND be printed.”

There is a lot more from Don that the Doc guarantees will stimulate your neural economy.

Are Pixels Greener than Paper?

"More and more people are communicating with electronic media. But are electronic devices the most effective environmental choice for getting information?

Ever decision to communicate has some impact on the environment. For example, whether we email or send a letter, we consumer energy and resources. There are environmental tradeoffs in every choice we make, and there is no simple 'right answer'. Effective stewardship requires a careful examination of the larger picture that compares the entire lifecylce, from raw materials to energy use and end of life, to fully understand the impact and performance of both electronic media and paper.

The facts may surprise you.

RAW MATERIALS: Are they Sustainable?
PAPER: on of the great things about paper is that its primary raw materials are renewable. The paper and forest products industry replenishes more than it takes and ensures the sustainability of our forest by planting 1.7 million trees every single day, more than three times what is harvested. And the U.S. Dept. of Energy has stated that the carbon sequestered on forest lands in 2006 was greater than the carbon released from harvesting wood over the same period.

ELECTRONICS: Making a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals, including gold, silver and palladium, as well as the extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. The life span of a computer is short, and electronics have become the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

ENERGY CONSUMPTION: Is it Effiecient?
PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY: OUr industry is on of the biggest users of renewable, low-carbon energy in the world. Sixty percent of the enrgy used to make paper in the U.S. comes form carbon-neutral renewable resources and is produced on site at mills. In addition, these facilities use combined heat and power (CHP) generation systems, which are 80-90% efficient. Fossil fuel use and purchased energy in this industry is steadily decreasing.

ELECTRONIC DATA CENTER SERVERS: Taking only the servers that power the Internet as comparison, the electronics industry uses more than 90% fossil fuels purchased off the grid, which are greenhouse gas emitting. The conventional power-generation systems used are only 45-50% efficient. And the consumption rate for data centers in the U.S. alone doubled from 2000-2006 and is set to double again by 2011.

END OF LIFE: How Does it Break Down?
PAPER: paper is a biodegradable substance that is also recyclable and reusable. Nearly 60% of all paper in the U.S> is recycled and more than 63% of the fiber used to make new paper products in the U.S. comes from recycled sources.

ELECTRONICS: Only 18% of all electronic devices are currently recycled. 1.84 million tons of these devices were disposed of in U.S> landfills in 2006, and an estimated 30-40 millions PCs will be ready for disposal in each of the next few years. Additionally, e-waste now constitutes our single largest toxic waste export.

The fact is both print and electronic media must become increasingly more sustainable to survive, and the choices we make should be based on a data-driven comparative analysis of life cycle, carbon footprint and total environmental impact. The paper and forest products industry has been addressing sustainability for decades, and now adheres to many third-party certification standards and government regulations.

The future sustainability of our society is dependent upon sustainable supply chains over the life cycle of the medium with which we choose to communicate. The ultimate question is not electronics or paper, but what combination of these has the least total impact on our environment."

Source: International Paper Sustainability

FOR MORE INFORMATION
International Paper
Academy Graphic Communication
Abundant Forest
International Energy Agency
Environmental Protection Agency

Forest Certification Labels Matter

A Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified vendor protects wildlife, plants, soil, water and ultimately, people.

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing recently named FSC and SFI as two of the most common, credible eco-labels. According to TerraChoice, FSC and SFI met all criteria of a credible eco-label, including third party certification, a publicly available standard and a transparent standard development process.

On product labels show proof of the product's adherence to certification standards. Promotional logos are a way for companies to advertise their commitment to protecting the future of our forests. In certified forest today, for every tree logged 3-4 are planted in it's place. Supporting, promoting and patronizing certified vendors, ensures you are are fulfilling a promise for a sustainable future today and for generations to come.

The Myths Surrounding Paper - what is the most sustainable solution?

Paper has been around for almost 2000 years, and during this time it has undoubtedly established itself as the most effective and versatile means of communication.

Even in today’s digital age with the availability of alternative media, paper’s unique practical and aesthetic qualities simply can’t be achieved by using electronic alternatives. That’s not to say that one is less suitable than the other. Both paper-based & electronic communication have a role to play and can compliment each other.

In recent years, however, paper has been the target of negative and often misinformed environmental criticism. Listening to some people, its benefits are outweighed by the mass of misleading environmental disadvantages; shrinking forests, excessive energy consumption, and overflowing landfill sites. So as far as the environment is concerned, paper appears bad.

While paper does use trees, its production does consume energy and too often, waste paper ends up in landfill sites, it is also one of the few truly renewable and recyclable raw materials we have.

A few facts about paper:

• Paper production is not a major cause of deforestation

• Industrial wood, pulp and paper production saves forests

• Paper is a fully renewable, sustainable resource

• For every tree logged in managed forests, 3–4 are replanted

• Forest certification promotes wood from managed forests

• We plant more trees than we harvest for making paper

• The paper industry is one of the biggest users of renewable, low carbon energy

• Half the energy used to make paper in Europe comes from renewable sources

• Very often, the water used to make paper is cleaner when it comes out of the mill than when it goes in

• Growing forests absorb carbon dioxide helping to counter the Greenhouse Effect

What others are saying:
‘Forestry, paper and packaging are among the most sustainable industries in existence’
CEO Perspectives 2008, Price Waterhouse Coopers

‘Almost half of the timber harvested from the world’s forests is used to make paper products, so the paper industry has a huge opportunity to make sure that those forests are responsibly managed and will be here for generations to come’ In managed forests, for every tree cut down, three to four are replanted in its place. It’s estimated that there are 25% more trees in the developed world today than there were in 1901.
Forest Stewardship Council

‘A sustainably managed forest can be relatively carbon neutral if logging is balanced with re-growth’
The Sustainable Procurement of wood & Paper products: An introduction. www.sustainableforestprods.org

‘Reading a newspaper can consume 20% less carbon than viewing news online’
Swedish Royal Institute for Technology


'The paper industry has eight representatives in the UN’s list of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies, more than any other industry’
Promotion of Paper
Australian Paper Industry Association, 2008


'When people use more paper, suppliers plant more trees. If we want bigger commercial forests, then we should use more paper not less. Our policies should directly protect important wildlife habitats, not try to reduce our demand for paper.’
Edward L. Glaeser,
Professor of Economics at Harvard University
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company

'There aren't many industries around that can aspire to becoming genuinely sustainable. The paper industry, however, is one of them; it s inherently sustainable.'
Jonathon Porritt, Chairman UK Sustainability Development Commission & Founder Forum for the Future