Photoline

4 Ways to improve your green print credentials

We have a number of different council supplied bins to help us reycle correctly and the prescence of smart energy meters in our homes allows us to monitor and reduce our energy usage and bills, alongside increasing awareness of our own carbon footprint.

These modern changes are all great news, however are we doing enough in the workplace to boost our green credentials? Are we doing more than the bare minimum?

Here at Photoline, we achieved ISO 14001 environmental management certification earlier this year, after putting processes in place to reduce our impact on the environment. To acknowledge the importance we place on all things green, we have put together a number of helpful to tips to help you and your business boost its green printing credentials, whilst saving a little bit of money in the process!

CHOOSE YOUR PAPER WISELY

By choosing FSC certified or environmental paper, you are helping promote responsible management of the world's forests. Recycled papers and papers originating from sustainable sources hardly differ from 'new' papers, so there is no sacrifice in quality. In fact using recycled paper is a great PR angle for your business and something to be proud of. At Photoline we only print on Xerox evironmental papers or recyclable materials to ensure we are doing our bit for the environment.

CHOOSE SUSTAINABLE INK

Just like choosing suistainably produced paper, you can choose to print with low impact inks. Our digital printing processes use HP solvent free inks which significantly reduces the impact on the environment.

REDUCE PAPER WASTAGE

Through reducing paper wastage, you will save money whilst reducing your carbon footprint. There are a number of simple steps you can take to achieve this.

Firstly switch to sending/receiving invoices/statements via email - most businesses prefer this method over post anyway. Also aim to communicate with clients via email/phone where possible and encourage staff to make notes on their PC ratgher than in notepads.

Try to print all your business's promotional requirements via digital printing to significantly reduce wastage. As there are no set up charges for printing low volumes, digital print allows you to print as many or as few items as you need, even if that is only one! Due to the nature of digital print technology, its processes are also generally much 'cleaner' than the more traditional printing processes like litho printing or screen printing.

USE AN ISO 14001 ACCREDITED PRINTER 

Using an ISO 14001 accredited printing company gives your support to the protection fo the world, so try to look for companies which have made the grade. You can also look to get your own company accredited which would provide you with a great framework & strategy for improving your environmental practices. There are many schemes to choose from, however ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management, the standard was born out of the 1992 Rio earth summit.

Remember that working green is good for your customers, your staff, your business and your profit margins.

You can read more about Photoline ISO14001 certification here.