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Sustainability
Sustainable Eco-friendly Graphic Design:
it’s Easy Being Green
Everyone – including graphic designers - is responsible for keeping the planet healthy. I am dedicated to finding earth-friendly solutions when planning, designing, and printing the finished product. Of course it is “greener” to avoid printing altogether and instead use an alternative means to broadcast your message such as an email marketing campaign; however, when you absolutely need to print, it is always best to choose the greenest possible method.
A few obvious examples of greener design and print methods include printing on recycled paper, printing with soy or vegetable-based inks, creating a design that minimizes paper waste, and even designing with less colours and ink coverage which results in less resources used, less waste, and minimizes the amount of sludge created from the recycling process.
There are many ways I try to keep my practices as green as possible including sending invoices via email as a PDF file, which reduces paper usage. I use digital photography (transmitted electronically) and I deliver digital artwork to the printer via email or server upload which eliminates the waste of one-time-use storage media. I recycle as much as I can, including reusing bubble-mailer envelopes (it’s so easy to peal off address labels and reseal the envelope, and besides, anything going through the postal service is scuffed up anyhow so the addressee will probably never notice the reused envelope). To conserve electricity, my desk is positioned near a south-facing window so the only time I need to turn on a light bulb is when the sun goes down. Most important, I work from a home office which cuts out the high energy cost of commuting.
A good way to keep projects green is good planning in the conceptual stage of a project, especially with your printer. I aim to work with eco-friendly printers around the world that are either FSC certified or have an environmental management system in place. Here are some key points to help keep projects environmentally-friendly:
- choose local materials
- choose local vendors that use renewable energy, to minimize transportation waste
- choose paper that is processed chlorine free (PCF)
- choose paper with high post-consumer waste content
- choose recycled paper
- choose paper with natural materials and fibres
- choose paper that is biodegradable
- choose paper that can be composted
- choose hemp paper
- choose soy or vegetable-based inks
If you’re trying to make your business greener, I can help you find eco-friendly design solutions.
Kermit is wrong – being green is very easy.
Here’s an International directory and database of eco-friendly companies and organizations:
EcoFirms.org – Eco Friendly Companies Directory - Supporting Ecological Solutions
Renourish – a list of green printers in North America
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