Friday, April 15, 2016

How To Implement Brochure Printing That Is Eco Friendly

By Shirley Jones


In recent times, there have been sustained campaigns aimed at sensitizing the public on the importance of environmental conservation. This is what has given rise to the sudden change in product preferences among a significant proportion of consumers; the consumers want to play their small role by promoting businesses which protect natural resources. This has been seen in almost all industries including printing. Brochure printing that is eco friendly appears to be getting an edge over the conventional methods.

Strive to utilize your resources optimally and minimize on wastage. These include raw materials such as ink, paper and water and other inputs such as electricity. Putting only the essential information on the brochure will help you save on paper requirements. Another strategy that can be used to reduce the amount of paper used is to have a design in which the brochure is folded several times.

Conventional printing involves the use of petroleum based inks. These inks degrade the environment by releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere during the drying process. Vegetable inks have been accepted as a substitute for the petroleum based inks. Just like the commercial types, they have monochrome and color printing options. More importantly, they are environment friendly as they do not contain any VOCs.

Using recycled paper is another of ensuring that you remain environmentally conscious and save on operating costs at the same time. This can be made possible by using either post-consumer or pre-consumer waste materials. Post-consumer waste paper refers to that which was used to make another product and was later discarded after the product had been used. Pre-consumer waste, on the other hand, refers to excess paper 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.

The other raw materials can be recycled as well. Water for example, can be recycled and reused to a great degree. If the system is functioning optimally, it can reuse more than 60% of water used in the first cycle. Ink is the other major raw material which can be reused.

Energy efficiency is an important consideration for anyone concerned about the environment. Cut down on your use of fossil fuels and consider substituting them with renewable energy options such as solar and wind. If you are to buy new equipment, focus on getting higher output (more prints for a unit of energy used). Regular servicing will ensure your printers remain energy efficient.

When you decide to go green, you may have to put up with higher operational costs initially but the investments will pay you back handsomely in the long term. If the shift is too expensive for you to carry out, then the best option is to outsource. Perform a background check to ascertain that your chosen company is environmentally certified.




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