Save a Forest: Print Your Emails--A Different Lesson in Being Green

Recently International Paper Company reprinted a story from the Wall Street Journal that encourages us to print our emails to save a forest.

Huh?

The common perception is that "being green" means keeping trees, not using paper and natural resources. However, the authors, Chuck Leavell and Carlton Owen, argue otherwise.

"What many folks don't realize is that it (not printing) also may indirectly hasten the conversion of forests to other uses like strip malls and parking lots and housing developments because the nation's forest landowners can't keep growing trees without markets for this natural, organic and renewable product," Chuck wrote for the WSJ.

It is not that the authors are advocating waton waste, they said. More forests are dying of insect infestation and disease or being paved over...right now than could be converted to an email print-out in a thousand years, they said.

Paper is a renewable resource and using it carefully and recycling it and its byproducts is more green than ignoring it completely. So be green by using paper.

The Executive Pressman

To Print or Not To Print...That Is The Question

OK, Shakespeare we are not, but the thought is in the right place:

Think before you print.

Before you commit resources, time and money to printing something--anything--think first.

• Will it help the reader to have this in their hands?
• Is the item more likely to be read if it is in hard copy form?
• Will it have more impact as a printed piece?
• How many people need to have it?
• What do you expect the reader to do once they've read it?

Whether you are pressing "print" on your computer or asking your printing partner to set up and print a 4-color brochure, the thought process is the same.

Some things go without saying that you need to have a printed copy. That list is pretty short these days--your business card. You still make connections and trade these things to make an impression. While business cards can be delivered electronically, more than likely they will always be printed and handed out.

So think carefully--and in a green way--before printing.

The Executive Pressman

www.executivepress.com

Five Printing Terms You Need to Know

Remember vocabulary tests in school? While this won't be a test, it is importnat in business to have a broad and varied vocabulary. It helps you communicate.

A good person to be communicating with clearly is your print service provider. So today we are talking about print terminology that is valuable to know.

Let's pick five terms to become familiar with:

1. PDF
2. Digital printing
3. Offset printing
4. Press proof
5. Green printing

A PDF is a software program/product developed by Adobe that allows for a piece that is to be printed to be packaged for ease of production. Most desktop computers have the program and many printers can work directly from these files to finished printed product easily.

Digital printing is imaging done by a printing machine (press) using laser, inkjet or solid-ink technology to make the images. Xerography is a form of digital printing.

Offset printing is traditional printing that is done on a printing press and uses plates and image-transfer processes. Used primarily for large run jobs and specialty projects (catalogs, for example).

A press proof is a review of the printed project as it comes off the press during it's initial run. Ink color and density and image quality can all be judged at this time and corrections made.

Green printing is a broad term that encompasses what a printing service provider does in terms of using environmentally safe products and processes. Soy inks, recycled papers and careful recovery and use of solvents are all a part of being a green printer.

For more information, please visit www.executivepress.com. Or call us at 214-217-7000.

The Executive Pressman

FSC Certification

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. Their website is www.fsc.org.

Many companies working in an industry dealing with wood products or paper and paper goods seek to be identified with the FSC to show their awareness and commitment to responsible forest management worldwide.

Executive Press is FSC-certified. FSC’s certification system provides internationally recognized standard-setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.

By having the FSC label the public and consumers recognize our responsible practices. There is a level credibility with customers and business partners as well as financial institutions and watchdog organizations.

For more information and real examples of our commitment to this certification, please get in touch with us.

The Executive