notecards "rescued" from the edges of press sheets, from BlueAlgae

In my “other life” I’m a graphic designer, and that often means I get asked questions about printing, and especially with this crowd, printing sustainably. Whether you’re getting business cards or postcards or something else altogether, a visit to the print shop or an online printing website can be baffling. And even moreso when you’re trying to make the right decisions for both yourself and the Earth.

Here’s a quick primer on what some of the printing terms mean in terms of sustainability…

Paper: Recycled / PCW / FSC

Choosing paper (stock) can be tricky. Many printers are offering sustainable alternatives these days, but it can be tricky to decipher which is best. These terms have become much more mainstream, and may already be familir to you, but if not, here’s the difference. Just to confuse you “Recycled” paper doesn’t come from the paper in your recycling bin. It most likely comes from waste in the paper production process, which instead of being thrown away is turned into more paper. But the pulp is essentially “new” pulp from trees. If paper is labeled as PCW, it is recycled paper coming from Post-Consumer Waste, meaning it has actually been recycled from used paper. It’s possible for something to be 100% recycled, 30% PCW. The higher PCW content, the better. FSC on the other hand, is completely new paper, but the pulp comes from trees that are sustainably harvested from managed forests that meet strict requirements set by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Coated or Uncoated?

In general, uncoated stock is the best choice for the environment. Some coatings contain nasty chemicals, and some prevent paper from easily being recycled later. That said, sometimes coatings aren’t all that bad. Aside from wanting a shinier business card (if that’s your thing), a coating can increase the lifespan of your printed piece. Like anything, it depends on your needs. If it means that you aren’t throwing away a handful of unused cards at the end of a show because they were in your pocket all day and came out a creased, yucky mess, then maybe coating is good for you. A good choice is Aqueous Coating. It is water-based and does increase your prints’ durability. It also helps your prints dry faster, meaning you get them a little quicker from your printer.

Offset? Digital? Letterpress?

Again, this all depends on what you’re looking for from your printed piece. If you’ve got your heart set on letterpress, I’m not going to try to dissuade you. And actually, you may have even more sustainable paper options with letterpress than with a conventional print house. But if you are a small business looking for a small run of business cards at a small price: go digital. Digital printers work a lot like your home printer, just on a much larger scale, and unlike offset printing or letterpress, they don’t require the production of printing plates, so there is less materials waste in the process. The quality on digital prints can be less perfect than offset prints, but you won’t notice on a business card. If you’re a photographer looking for the perfect art-print postcards, though, you might want to stay old school and go digital.

Veggie Ink?

Lots of printers are advertising that they are printing with soy- or vegetable-based inks. Go for it! I haven’t seen any difference in quality. They contain fewer VOCs, and according to this wikipedia article, make it easier for paper to be recycled later.

In summary…

So this is a lot of information…whew!…but the most important thing to take away is that there are lots of choices that you can make that can make your business materials a bit more environmentally-friendly. And you can still get the end product you want!* My last printing tip: always order more than you think you’ll need. This might sound counter-intuitive, but you’ll money and energy in the long run. The more you order the less you pay per piece, and once those machines get going it doesn’t take much to krank out another 50 or 100 or 500 cards. In fact, a larger order probably uses the paper on the press more efficiently. And, if you are ordering online, you only pay and use the energy to ship things once. A little more weight in the shipment is better than a second emergency order.