Making Sure Sustainable Digital Printing Becomes The Norm

By Roxanne Cruz


in order to have sustainable digital printing many things have to happen.People need to become more aware of the energy they are using and more aware of the effects of that energy use on our environment. Business, too, needs to come up with initiatives that help not only to conserve resources but to replenish what is already being used. Taking a balanced view of the issue should help both parties to use resources more wisely.

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 amounts of ink, paper and the electricity used daily are vast and to make the print industry more sustainable we need to measure, identify and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we used, as well as cut down on the amount of waste. Digital media is one of the biggest contributors to energy use in the United States. Aside from the actual energy used to produce documents, there's also the energy used to make the printers and paper, which includes not just electricity but also water.

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.

One of the things people do not do enough of is monitor how much energy is actually used. There are products on the market that can help with this. By assessing energy usage they might be more likely to reduce that usage, especially if it is above average for their property or business.

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.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment