The printing industry has made big strides over the years to switch from traditional processes to a more sustainable approach, which helps to lessen the negative impact on our planet. When it’s time to have professional printing done for the home or office, consider an environmentally friendly print shop in Sausalito.
At Joanne’s Print Shop, we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously, which means paying attention to all aspects of how we may impact the world around us with our printing:
Paper
As an environmentally friendly print shop, we try to typically use one of the “green” paper options below:
- 100% post-consumer waste paper, without chlorine bleach
- Sourced from sustainable plant farms like Eucalyptus or Pine farms.
- Alternative fiber papers, like hemp or rice
Tool recycling
When it comes to equipment and resources needed for printing, it’s important to think of how these items can be recycled. Some of our recycling focuses include:
- Inks
- Plates: traditional processes use chemical laden film to create the printing plate, but a “green” printing shop uses a computer to create the plate, resulting in zero harsh chemicals!
- Paper waste
- Solvents
By recycling the items used in the process we are lessening our carbon footprint because less waste from our shop means less in the landfills, which results in less harmful chemicals escaping into the atmosphere.
Eliminating harmful chemicals
Traditional printing tends to use several harmful dyes, metals and chemicals (some of these include Toulene, MEK, TCK, and Methanol). These chemicals and materials are usually disposed of in the ground, creating what’s called VOCs, which stands for “volatile organic compound.” These nasty VOC’s are responsible for things like smog, ground water pollution and other health related issues.
By contrast, our environmentally friendly print shop in Sausalito does several things to eliminate chemicals in the process including:
- Printing direct to plate: this process creates the printing plate by using a computer, which eliminates the need for the chemical laden films used in the traditional process.
- Vegetable based inks and dyes: using vegetable inks and dyes is a huge way to lessen an environmental impact and a bonus the more vibrant colors they create, without chemicals!
Responsibility
As an environmentally friendly print shop in Sausalito, we go the extra mile and seek out paper mills who also have a sustainable focus.
- Committed to responsible forestry: a commitment to responsible forestry means that the mills plant one new tree for every tree they chop down and practice safe harvesting. Often times these mills will also operate their own nurseries in tandem with their milling process to assure that the correct species of tree is planted in the correct location.
- Using renewable resources like solar or wind power to operate their business.
When deciding on a print shop, be sure to consider environmental responsibility along with you print needs. When you make the choice to work with a print shop like Joanne’s Print Shop, you’re making a choice for quality materials and a better tomorrow for the world we live in!