Printing marketing materials? You can still go green.

No matter how green your company is, you probably still have some paper moving around the marketing department: brochures, product data sheets, business cards, invoices… what can you do to reduce the amount of pre-consumer paper used?

Well, you can start by having all your marketing documents on the web. An easy way to do this is to incorporate your product information on your website and have a link to the brochure, product data sheet or press release on a PDF format. This way you can also track how many people read your company’s information and what pages they visit next. I will write more about this theme on a future post.

Even if you have all your marketing materials on your website, you will still need some print copies of your company’s brochure. So, what type or paper and printing processes should you choose to be as green as you can be?

There are different types of paper available in the market. You should look for printers that use 100% recycled, post-consumer and processed chlorine free (PFC) paper (to find the differences between recycled and post-consumer paper, click here). While there are many printers that already use this type of papers, you may want to check if they use non-petroleum-based inks, such as soy, vinegar or vegetable-based. These inks have fewer volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are known for readily evaporating into the air, reducing air quality.

Finally, you should also ask your printer how they’re managing their operations in order to reduce their carbon footprint. For instance, En Masse Media, a green printing company based in Vancouver, specializes in short run full color printing, grouping all printing orders to ensure less energy expenditure while offering their clients reduced prices based on the economies of scale. Another common practice in the printing world is green certifications, proving the printer’s commitment to the environment. Popular certifications are awarded by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Green Seal, Eco Logo and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), just to name some.

Whatever printing method you choose, you should keep in mind the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Do you really need to print 1,000 brochures? Maybe you can reutilize some of the overruns from the latest trade show. This mind frame will not only help you reduce the amount of paper you use, but will also positively impact your bottom line.