How Eco Friendly Digital Printing Can Help
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Eco friendly digital printing is something that should be considered by any company that produces large, or even small amounts of printed goods. Reducing your carbon footprint is a responsible and conscientious decision to make and with the rise of green printing companies it is now easy to find a solution. Whilst the most green printed document is one that is not printed at all, sometimes this is a necessity and there are several steps that can be taken to make your productions more eco friendly. Digital printing in a eco friendly manner is often not a more expensive direction to take.
Using recycled paper for your printing is something that can be done easily by most people, individuals and companies alike. Virgin paper that is taken directly from trees actually uses the most energy in its production and its impact on the forest is immediate. Recycling paper saves these trees and at the same time reduces the use of toxic chemicals and energy. Recycled paper comes in many different forms with a quality that now rivals virgin paper.
Petroleum based inks have become a standard in the printing industry, however they contain VOCs or volatile organic compounds. These are colorless and odorless gasses that harm the environment and contribute to global warming. They can also be harmful to people working in press rooms that are subjected to substantial amounts of VOCs.
Some inks, known as vegetable based inks use vegetable oil instead of petroleum, lowering the rate of emission. Percentages of vegetable oil can vary between inks and most still contain VOCs but in smaller amounts. As well as reducing the VOC content in inks, vegetable oils come from renewable resources and the inks that are made from them are easier to remove from papers for recycling.
Designing your printed documents to be more eco friendly can play a large part in eco friendly printing. Some print companies will be happy to consult with you on your designs to see how they can be improved. The first factors that should be considered during your design are the waste potential and size of your documents.
The smaller your document is the less resources it will require to print. You should also consider what potential you are leaving for your information to be updated rather than replaced. The design and binding methods should be considered to allow for updating of information instead of a complete reprinting. This will reduce the waste of your document as well as reprinting costs.
Large solid areas of ink color, particularly darker colors, may render a printed document unrecyclable. This is because of the difficulty and energy intensive procedures involved in removing the ink. When choosing your colors try to avoid fluorescent and metallic colors that are not available in vegetable based inks. If your documents need to be coated consider a water based alternative to laminating and varnishing as these can often not be recycled.
eco friendly digital printing
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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