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Tuesday 16 July 2013

Can Sustainable Digital Printing Really Be Achieved

By Roxanne Cruz


Achieving sustainable digital printing should be an important goal for manufacturers and those in the print industry. The term simply embraces environmental practices that conserves resources and reuse print resources rather than throwing them away. On its own, the term means a balanced approach to human activity as regards to the replenishment of resources. In print terms it could specifically mean examining the life-cycle of products of anything from printing cartridges to the paper that's used.

You may not know this but every time you print something off there is a carbon footprint to that document. Magazines have a footprint also, as does use of a cell phone. The materials and energy associated with digital media mean it uses a lot of energy, and sometimes we forget about this when thinking about its carbon footprint.

The process of printing accounts for a tremendous amount of carbon emissions. Both businesses and individuals can become more aware of their usage by measuring just how much these greenhouse gases are emitted by these processes. It isn't only the vast amounts of electricity that should be looked at but also the actual process of making paper, which is water intensive. Measuring is only the start but it's a great way opening yourself up to cutting down on waste.

Buying recycled paper is a good start for many who feel they aren't in a position to make a huge contribution to environmental causes. It's widely available these days and this action can be supplemented by reusing ink cartridges or buying refurbished ink from retailers. Once cartridges are dry they can be returned to retailers to be reused.

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.

The number of initiatives that firms can take to help the planet are almost limited only by the imagination. Buildings can be assets used to generate electricity through solar panels and they can strive to recycle every last bit of waste.

It's normally the case that if you know how much carbon you're emitting you're more likely to cut down your emissions. If both companies and individuals do this it will not only make them think about reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in the print process, but overall too.

There are small things we all can do to encourage sustainable digital printing. The first thing to do is recognize the issues involved and that change starts with both individuals and firms. If people work together for a common goal by recycling, reusing and calculating their carbon usage, then the print industry might be able to achieve sustainability.




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