Colortech’s Eco-Friendly Printing Practices
The midst of the spring season is the perfect time to reflect on ways we can help the environment. Eco-friendly printing, to keep it simple, is about reducing the impact on the environment through your business practices. This can include using sustainable materials, reducing waste, and utilizing efficient printing technology. However, there are many methods you can implement, which we will go over below. View our sustainability page on our website for additional details on what we do.
Certifications and Standards for Sustainable Printing
When choosing eco-friendly printing practices, look for certifications and standards that ensure genuine environmental benefits. Colortech is proudly certified with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), which guarantees that our products come from responsible sources. These certifications ensure that the materials used in your printing practices are sustainably sourced and processed.
Reduced Environmental Impact
By using recycled or sustainably sourced paper, businesses like ours directly contribute to the preservation of forests and reduce habitat loss. Colortech also uses soy inks, which are renewable and plant-based inks made from soybeans. Soy ink creates a positive environmental impact by reducing air pollution through creating fewer toxic emissions. In addition, it spreads over 15% farther than regular inks, reducing ink usage, printer cleanup, and overall costs.
Choosing Eco-Friendly Printing Materials
There are plenty of environmentally friendly options for printing materials, which are recycled or biodegradable. Uncoated stocks are typically more green than coated ones due to being easier to recycle and using fewer chemicals in production. These kinds of stocks are available in recycled or FSC-certified options. However, because there is no coating to fill in gaps between paper fibers, they will not have a shiny feel the way a glossy, coated paper would. Typically, a coated stock is less likely to be eco-friendly due to the coating materials that make the recycling process more complicated.
We are also happy to work with you to find more specialized stocks that suit both your printing and environmental needs. These may run you a higher price due to having specific minimums for custom orders, but they are readily available! Reach out to estimating@colortechinc.com to learn more.
Why We Utilize Eco-Friendly Printing
The more time that passes and the more technology evolves, we look forward to further standards that will reduce environmental impact. By utilizing measures such as soy and biodegradable inks and more recycled materials, Colortech is happy to keep improving our green practices.
We have found that adding these resources not only benefits the environment but also provides advantages for our business. For example, reduction of ink usage and choosing better quality paper ultimately allows us to save costs and pass these savings along to our clients. We like to think our brand image has improved as a result!