Baby On Board signs. Hypercolor T-shirts. Snooki. Some fads should be left in the past (even though, technically, the pint-sized Jersey Shore cast member continues to invade Hollywood and television sets across the country).
Meanwhile, other fads are (perhaps, rightfully) returning to the mainstream. Vinyl records. Peasant blouses. Betty White.
So where does the green movement fit into the puzzle? Can it even be considered a fad? Maybe not, considering environmental issues have plagued the world throughout history. However, public reaction to this topic has not been as consistent.
In 2006, a PowerPoint presentation—voiced by Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth"—brought environmental awareness to the masses. "Green frenzy" soon followed. Magazines such as Vanity Fair published green issues. Members of the hollywood elite, particularly Leonardo DiCaprio, preached on the importance of reducing carbon emissions.
A year later, under the guise of "saving ourselves" from global warming, the Live Earth benefit concerts united more than 150 musical acts in 11 locations around the world. The shows were to be broadcast to a mass global audience via television, radio and live Internet streams with projections of 2 billion viewers. It flopped. Only 15 million tuned in on the big day.
Businesses eventually got involved, touting green products as a way to save the planet. Unfortunately, for many companies, the underlying goal was to usher in the green (i.e., dollars) and make a tidy profit. As a result, the good intentions of some become discredited and placing trust gets complicated.
Leading environmentalists refer to this clever advertising technique as "greenwashing." According to a 2009 study by TerraChoice, an environmental consulting firm, approximately 98 percent of eco-friendly products make misleading claims. The firm investigated 4,000 consumer products found on supermarket shelves and presented its findings to Congress.
The printing industry definitely is not excluded from the green soap opera of fickle interest, changing trends, greenwashing and financial threat. Nevertheless, many printers remain committed to the cause in a way that exceeds product pushing and can, instead, be found in company policy and workflow.
This holds true for Deanna (Dee) Bisel, owner of Lawrence, Kansas-based Bisel, Inc. (dba Minuteman Press of Lawrence, KS). "To me, sustainability goes beyond the consumables a company uses to produce its products. I believe in a holistic approach that covers the environmental, health and safety of our employees and customers," she said. "The entire company and its employees should be taking specific steps to reduce the facility's environmental footprint—implementing pollution prevention activities and committing to fundamental social and ethical norms. In short, we should be challenging everything we use from the type of fertilizer we have on the lawn to the chemicals we use to clean the bathroom."
Bisel practices what she preaches. Her company's green efforts initially began in the pressroom. All petroleum-based inks and solvents were changed to soy and vegetable inks and low VOC solvents. The next step was to recycle waste. Minuteman Press of Lawrence, KS currently recycles over 83 percent of its waste and follows it to the end process.
Bisel believes recycled stock and soy ink are still viewed as the hot trends. "The general public does not seem to get beyond those two items," she observed.
Safety also is a big part of the company's sustainability process and the staff has worked to reduce the usage of electricity, gas and water.
Marilyn K. Jones, president of Chicago-based Consolidated Printing Company, shares the same passion as Bisel. Despite the hot trends of the time, since its founding in 1973, Consolidated's goal has been to shield its workers and the environment from any harm.
"At Consolidated Printing Company, sustainability is a commitment to continuous environmental improvement, including areas not subject to regulation. Our commitment to pollution prevention includes non-harmful chemistry, source reduction and recycling," Jones said. "Our green business practices extend to our facility with recycled ceiling tiles and studs, dual flush toilets, no VOC paints, ENERGY STAR compliant electrical equipment, recycling, etc. Our printing process is toxin-free and petroleum-free."
Jones believes many consider her company unique in the country and beyond due to its PrintedGreen®360 award-winning all natural process. According to the company's website, PrintedGreen®360 is defined as "the relentless commitment to inventing, finding, testing and incorporating the healthiest and most environmentally sustainable commercial printing practices without sacrificing an iota of print quality."
In addition to rebuilding its facility with recycled aluminum studs, the Consolidated building features formaldehyde-free insulation and 100 percent recycled carpeting. There is also an outdoor patio and organic garden that yields fresh produce.
Consolidated's efforts haven't gone unnoticed. The company has received several environmental awards since the '90s. "We were named Illinois First Great Printer in the '90s, and have awards from four Illinois governors and two from Mayor [Richard M.] Daley and the Chicago Department of Environment. The president of our company received the William D. Schaeffer Award from the Printing Industries of America for significant advancement of environmental awareness within the graphic arts industry," Jones commented.
Leveling the Playing Field
The truth eventually prevails. Nevertheless, greenwashing continues to be an industry-wide problem. Bisel and Jones decided to confront this issue head-on with the assistance of a third-party organization: the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership. The mission of the SGP Partnership is "to encourage and promote participation in the worldwide movement to reduce environmental impact and increase social responsibility of the graphic communications industry through sustainable green practices."
Frustrated with her franchise's decision against the pursuit of a green certification for its members, Bisel conducted her own investigation. "I had already been looking around for some way to differentiate my company from the ones, who in my opinion, were only 'playing' green. … Many people claim to be 'green' because they offer recycled stock and will use soy ink if you ask," she said. "When I heard about SGP, I decided to attend [its] convention and see for myself what it entailed. The folks [who] were designing the program were so impressive and knowledgeable that I knew it was going to be the premier certification for our industry. I did not see it as a gamble—I saw it as the best certification and the best solution for my company."
Minuteman Press of Lawrence, KS set a goal to become the first certified Sustainable Green Printer in Kansas. It accomplished this goal in December 2009, making it the first franchise, smallest company and first in Kansas (12th in the country) to earn the coveted certification.
Jones believed the SGP program was a great fit for her company, which has always been involved in and supported many green initiatives in the community. A member of the Consolidated staff is now even on the SGP Board of Directors.
"We were drawn to the SGP Partnership because of the transparency of the process. We hope that this project will deter and discourage greenwashing," Jones said.
She added, "When we joined SGP, we were already at the point where we are today, minus a couple of minor changes. It is wonderful to be involved in a project that is encouraging responsibility and transparency in the printing industry."
Receiving SGP certification is definitely time-consuming. For detailed instructions, interested parties can visit the SGP Partnership website at www.sgppartnership.org. For a basic overview, Bisel explained the process in laymen's terms. First, she applied at the SGP website and wrote a sustainability statement. Once the statement was approved, she began to change the processes in her plant and writing procedures.
"It is a huge undertaking and takes the cooperation of everyone on the staff. One of the biggest surprises to me was that the certification is really 50 percent safety and 50 percent sustainability," Bisel recalled.
Her company started with the safety side because Bisel felt her staff would have a better understanding of this part. She asked the State of Kansas Health and Safety department to tour the plant and to provide some input. The plant had the air quality tested, sound tested and water quality tested along with many safety suggestions. After staff members made and documented all the changes, they tackled the sustainability challenges and documented them along the way.
Bisel acknowledged that as a small plant the physical implementation was much easier than the written procedures. And, she had the extra help of two University of Kansas environmental studies students who spent four months writing procedures.
Once the SGP has approved your procedures, an independent third-party auditor makes a two-day visit. The auditor verifies that everything mentioned in a company's procedures is done and documented. "The in-house changes we had to make cost around $5,000 and the SGP charges (that include the auditor's expenses) were around $4,000," Bisel said.
Dedication and persistence are a must to see this process to the end. "The SGP certification was the hardest project I have taken on since the opening of my company 18 years ago. As a small printer we all have full-time jobs in the shop and adding this implementation and procedure writing (there are 33 procedures) was like absorbing the work of one full-time person among the five of us," Bisel noted. "Without the KU interns we would not have accomplished it in the one-year time limit. The work continues daily as we document everything that we say we will do and on what date we will do it, in preparation for our next audit in December 2011."
Jones agreed that the process could get tedious at times. "Our company was already doing almost all of what we are doing today. Writing the procedures and remembering each step along the way was difficult because most of our changes were accomplished years before. This was time consuming and time is money," she said.
The hard work paid off. "From the time we were certified to today, our business has grown by 25 percent and we get inquiries daily because of our green advertising and word-of-mouth. Almost all our website inquiries are a direct result of someone searching for a 'green printer,'" Bisel stated.
Critics argue that going green can be costly and daunting, which may explain the green fatigue seen over the last 24 months. This is where companies must re-evaluate their own priorities and see where they fit in the green equation. It might not be for everyone, but Jones concluded, "I want to ask, how overwhelming is a visit from the EPA or a toxic illness in one of your workers? I would rather be overwhelmed by the many benefits of going green."