Submitted: The Two Sides Team November 29, 2012

Every year, technology allows companies to make more responsible decisions about the environment, and with each passing year, awareness amongst business owners and consumers seems to be rising.
November 11 2012

by Matt Haskell, Digital Nirvana

Every year, technology allows companies to make more responsible
decisions about the environment, and with each passing year, awareness
amongst business owners and consumers seems to be rising. The American
Forest and Paper Association reported that paper recovery from 2011 was
up to 66.8%, which is over twice the conservation compared to 1990.
Energy usage is down, Greenhouse gases are down, and all indications
show that these trends will continue. What is at the core of these
significant industry shifts?

Organizations are taking steps to reduce environmental impact and can
make smart decisions about the supplies they do use. The Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international not-for-profit
organization designed to reduce environmental impact. Organizations
displaying the FSC logo guarantee that the product comes from
responsible sources—environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and
economically viable.

Additionally, modern print equipment, especially printers with
“waste-free” systems and roll-to-roll printing (that starts printing the
first page as soon as the roll begins) produce amazing image quality
and reduce waste. Digital printing, by nature, is significantly more
waste-efficient, as the chemicals and proofing associated with offset
printing are reduced.

The video above illustrates the fluid process of quality management
with sophisticated digital print machinery, where the documents can also
come to a complete stop and restart, without any white pages in
between, mid-run without having to restart the process or check and
discard proofed documents.

“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” was a mantra that was stressed to me at an
early age, and responsible printers are doing just that. Printers
nationwide can rejoice in the fact that a combination of environmental
responsibility and advances in technology are making a difference in the
preservation of our natural resources.

As an FSC-certified company, we are not only cognizant of
environmental impact, but we are also investing in technology, like the
Océ ColorStream® 3500, that emphasizes the importance of waste reduction
and how it impacts the sustainability of our environment.

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