Sunday, 14 July 2013

Can Sustainable Digital Printing Really Be Achieved

By Roxanne Cruz


Achieving sustainable digital printing should be an important goal for manufacturers and those in the print industry. The term simply embraces environmental practices that conserves resources and reuse print resources rather than throwing them away. On its own, the term means a balanced approach to human activity as regards to the replenishment of resources. In print terms it could specifically mean examining the life-cycle of products of anything from printing cartridges to the paper that's used.

What people sometimes do not realize is that many of the actions we don't think too much about are actually creating a carbon footprint. Taking photos from a digital camera or from a phone, having them printed, either at home or at a specialist store, all adds to the carbon footprint. And that is only taking into account the electricity and not the paper being used. This also rings true for the newspapers and magazines that we purchase.

The process of printing accounts for a tremendous amount of carbon emissions. Both businesses and individuals can become more aware of their usage by measuring just how much these greenhouse gases are emitted by these processes. It isn't only the vast amounts of electricity that should be looked at but also the actual process of making paper, which is water intensive. Measuring is only the start but it's a great way opening yourself up to cutting down on waste.

For people who think they won't make much of a difference it may be a good idea to start small and use recycled paper. The good news is that it's available almost every on the high street and does not cost that much more than non-recycled paper, and in some instances probably costs less. Another way to do your bit is to use recycled cartridges by buying them from special stockists. Once you have used them you can either refill them or send them back to be cleaned and used again.

Unfortunately, it'll take a little more than using recycled paper and sending back a few ink cartridges to make a difference. Businesses can take the lead by developing a totally holistic approach to the issue of saving energy and using resources efficiently. Every business should try and look at what they can do to improve the efficiency of their energy usage, ensure their manufacturing processes are friendly to the environment and make sure the products they produce can be recycled or reused in some way.

Of course there are many other environmental initiatives print companies can take, such as reducing carbon emissions by using vegetable oil based inks, eliminating hazardous waste emission in the print process and recycling all waste. One thing all firms might want to consider is generating their own power but using solar panels.

It's normally the case that if you know how much carbon you're emitting you're more likely to cut down your emissions. If both companies and individuals do this it will not only make them think about reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in the print process, but overall too.

The future of sustainable digital printing depends on people coming together for one common cause. By taking concrete steps to not only reduce energy use, but to reuse resources, individuals and firms might help reduce their carbon footprint, save money on energy and contribute towards a cleaner planet.




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