How Print is Going Green






Going green and helping the environment has become an extremely popular trend. When people think about print, the only image that comes to mind is cutting down rainforests and wasting trees. To flip your view on the process of printing, let’s take a look at how printing is able to go green.

Volatile Organic Compounds.
What are volatile organic compounds (VOC)? VOC are a variety of high vapor pressure chemicals that are emitted from certain solids and liquids. They can be found it paint, aerosol sprays, disinfectant, pesticides, and even other household items. VOC creates ozone which is a colorless toxic gas with powerful oxidizing properties. The alternative to these harmful compounds is vegetable oil based inks. These inks are made from a variety of vegetable oils like corn, canola, coconut, soybean, and linseed. The ink doesn’t dry as fast as petroleum-based ink but it releases only 2-4% of VOC, where petroleum-based inks release around 40% of VOC. Vegetable oil based inks are a renewable resource that doesn’t require solvents for cleaning. Workers can use water based cleaners which reduce the risk of them being exposed to the toxins. More and more print industries are switching to vegetable oil based inks to work towards saving the environment.

How can you go green at home?
There are some simple things that you can do to go green with your own printing as well. First off, remember to always recycle paper and reuse any blank paper or scrap sheets. Printing on both sides of the paper can help as well, so long as your printer has this capability. Lastly, if the layout allows it, expand your margins. This allows you to fit more content on a page and ultimately print out fewer pages.

Printing is becoming an eco friendly process that values the environment. It doesn’t take much to go green and if everyone puts in a little time and effort we can start looking towards a brighter, cleaner future. 

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