As a business owner, it is important to know that whatever you do can have a huge impact to the environment. That said, you should consider how you can reduce your business’s carbon footprint.
One way to do that is through eco-friendly printing.
What is eco-friendly printing?
In a nutshell, eco-friendly printing involves using green innovations in the three major areas of the printing process: The ink, printing technology, and printing materials.
All of these can reduce your business’s negative impact on the environment. As AP Woodham Flexographic Printing Company puts it, green technologies decrease waste, pollution, and energy consumption in the production process.
It also helps you reduce the costs of printing while helping save the planet. So, if you want to print green, eco-friendly printing could be one of the most important decisions your company could make.
Here are some practical tips on how you can achieve it:
1. Find non-toxic ink supplier
Keep in mind that not all ink is created equal. Some ink companies make environmental impact their main priority, and utilizing their ink will show your commitment to how you can make an eco-friendly business.
Traditional ink could harm the environment, but vegetable or soy-based inks use renewable resources.
With a little bit of research on your part, you can work with a more environmentally-focused ink supplier, which is a great way to reduce your ecological impact. A great way to know whether or not your ink manufacturer is active with their environmental practices is to check whether or not they are ISO-certified.
2. Choose paper with high-recycled content
While paper-based marketing is still very effective, in the end, it is all about how you can make the right choices.
For instance, instead of having a thousand fliers printed, why not reduce them in half and print them in a high-quality paper that has both substance and character. That will help you feature the quality of your product and impress your prospective customers more.
You could also choose a premium paper that has fantastic environmental credentials, whether it comes from a carbon-neutral papermill or it is recycled.
3. Double-check before you print
Before you decide to print a page, use the print preview first to check for the layout and alignment of the page. That way, you will know whether a photo is being cut off properly or if the margins are uneven.
Print preview also allows you to check which pages have all the information that you need, print only the most important ones.
Look for the most obvious, glaring errors. You would be surprised that most of these errors are reduced drastically by simply looking and checking your document before printing.
Taking an extra minute to check the page, and proofreading it before you hit print, will help you save more money and a substantial amount of paper usage levels. Better yet, go paperless! You can use smartphones or tablets to scan documents, letting you save a digital copy.
4. Recycle your cartridges
Most of those empty cartridges will probably end up in the garbage bin. And in case you do not know, approximately 375 million empty cartridges, which are non-biodegradable and toxic, end up in the landfill.
Recycling cartridges is one of the most obvious ways to cut down waste, yet a lot of companies still do not know how they can recycle their cartridges.
Making recycling a standard in your office will not only help you reduce waste, but it will also inspire your employees to start recycling. Not to mention that there are third-party companies out there who will pay you for recycled cartridges.
5. Advertise green
Being green and eco-friendly brand, it is another way for your marketing campaign to start picking up momentum.
Both your customers and employees will want to know how environmentally conscious your company is. And including this in your marketing materials is a great way to let them know that you care.
Furthermore, it is also a great way to increase awareness of your business. Just see to it that you practice what you preach.
To succeed, try to find the right balance. Balance the overall costs with sustainability. It’s always going to be different for every company out there, but you have to strike a comfortable balance.
6. Go for eco-friendly printing services
Transitioning to more eco-friendly business practices make take time. Fortunately, switching to eco-friendly printing is a great way to start.
So, if you wanted to go green in your office while significantly reducing the printing costs, you could go for a reputable eco-friendly printing service that will help you meet your needs and budget.
With what is currently happening to our environment and the world today, going green is more important than ever before. The quicker we are able to reduce our carbon footprint, the faster it will be for our planet to heal.
