Giving Print a Green Look
Greenerprinter proves the printing medium can be produced sustainably.
By Mario Assadi, CEO, Greenerprinter -- Graphic Arts Online, June 1, 2009
Businesses across the U.S. and around the world are getting on the “green” bandwagon. For some, the transition is fairly straightforward. For others, being eco-friendly is a much bigger challenge, at least in the eyes of the general public. “Environmentally sustainable printing” may seem a contradiction in terms. A green approach to printing seems unlikely, given our use of paper and energy, and our production with chemical solvents and inks. Commercial printers are more likely seen as environmental threats than green business leaders.
But adopting environmentally friendly business practices has become an important focus for the printing industry. Advances in products, technologies and processes that we printers can adopt to reduce our environmental footprint can actually make printing a good alternative to other media.
At Greenerprinter, we set out from the start to build an environmentally responsible company with business and manufacturing processes that are lean, green and sustainable. The company evolved from a prepress color house started in 1987 under the name Tulip Graphics into Greenerprinter, a full-blown commercial printer, offering sustainable, eco-friendly printing and mailing services to local and national companies.
Technology-powered efficiency
We try to prove, on a daily basis, how technology helps eliminate inefficiencies, streamlines communications with customers and makes internal operations more eco-friendly. One step with an immediate impact was the switch to an all-digital workflow, extending from design and pre-production through proofing and delivery of files to the press. This let us cut paper waste from proofing, cut reruns and preset inks through integrated press controls—saving makeready waste.
Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium software helped streamline premedia operations and cut paper usage without sacrificing quality. Our prepress department receives 95% of files from customers as Adobe PDF or Creative Suite files and internally uses Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and Acrobat 9 Pro for preflight and production. Live Preflight in Adobe InDesign CS4 helps customers identify and correct potential problems early in their own design process, reducing time and waste in their workflow.
Because we can create preflight profiles for customers to use for specific jobs, our customers can submit PDF files that maintain the integrity of their designs and flow directly into our PDF workflow. Customers upload files directly at the Greenerprinter Website. A side benefit: this eliminates fuel used for courier services.
Customers select from a list of products, and specify size, paper stock, quantity and bindery services, and other details. After uploading files, Adobe PDFs are e-mailed for online approval in 90% of the cases, rather than delivering hard copy proofs.
Using the Heidelberg Prinect Printready workflow management, we can verify integrity and printability of Adobe PDF documents supplied by our customers. We use the trim data embedded in PDF files to set actual size and bleed area for production. This lets us check file dimensions against client orders.
We also use Job Definition Format (JDF) to route documents through workflow steps, specifying ink zone settings, press setup instructions, and cutting and folding directions for JDF-enabled devices. With JDF we can preset our equipment while receiving production feedback and status information that we use for job costing in our MIS software. JDF-enabled PDF files speed throughput, reduce errors, conserve paper and energy, and lower production costs.
At Greenerprinter, we do a great deal of variable-data printing, targeting messages to individual recipients based on customer databases. This reduces waste and increases impact. Our client Conergy, a solar energy company, used variable data to target prospective clients by sending personalized offers based on their solar needs. We run VDP work on a Kodak NexPress, which requires PDF or Variable Data Exchange (VDX) for PDF workflow.
Our mission of sustainability extends into every facet of our operations. To achieve and maintain our environmental sustainability certification, we follow specific guidelines. In addition to computerizing prepress operations to remove photochemicals and establishing a recycling program for solvents, we also use alcohol-free printing, recycled paper exclusively, low volatile organic compound inks and energy-efficient equipment. We are a Bay Area Certified Green Business and are also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. We offset all of our carbon emissions from shipping and operations via Carbonfund.org and investments in renewable energy credits. We are also proud of our G7 Master Printer certification, which lets us print sustainably and consistently, delivering high-quality proofs to meet or exceed our client expectations.
Our ultimate goal is to produce printing with no environmental impact other than the paper itself. All media has a carbon footprint. We're working to make the footprint of printed pieces equal, or less than, other media. After 21 years in business, we're still committed to this goal, working every day to find new ways to improve efficiency and demonstrate the power of print.
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