Making your business more environmentally-conscious means finding opportunities to improve in every aspect of your operations, and this includes marketing. Printed flyers, posters and stationery have long been a popular and low-cost way to spread your message to the public – but not everyone is aware of the impact some printing firms have on the environment. By selecting a company that has proved its environmental credentials, such as Flyerzone, you can rest assured that there is one more part of your business that is doing its bit for the green revolution.
Printing firms using petroleum-based inks, paper sourced from poorly-managed forests and glueing and binding processes that render the finished product unrecyclable can all cause lasting damage to the environment. White paper is often bleached with a chlorination process that releases dangerous pollutants into the water, and even the process of cleaning the printing presses can involve toxic chemicals that cause long-term health problems if they are not disposed of properly. The printing industry is also power-intensive and uses a large proportion of the country’s electricity supply.
This isn’t to say that using printed materials for marketing is eco-unfriendly – in fact, it can be quite the opposite as long as you select the right suppliers. Companies like Flyerzone use vegetable-based inks and offer a range of leaflets, letterheads, business cards and flyers made from recycled paper. Some 99 per cent of the paper used by Flyerzone comes is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, meaning it is sourced from sustainably-managed forests. What’s more, the company recycles its printing plates as part of its robust Environmental Management System, and disposes of all its used chemicals in a responsible manner.
Choosing a company like this for your printing needs means you are joining in with an industry trend that is only set to get bigger. The sector has already made great progress in improving sustainability, hitting its 2013 target of ensuring 75 per cent of advertising mail is recycled four years ahead of schedule, and recently new measures have been put in place to build on this achievement. These include offering more ways to allow consumers to opt out of advertising mail.
In November, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) signed an agreement with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that commits the direct marketing industry to meeting a number of sustainability targets, including maintaining current rates of recycling. “The deal will not only help in delivering the government’s objectives of moving towards a zero-waste society and reducing carbon emissions, but also lead to higher standards in direct marketing,” said DMA executive director Chris Combemale.
As all industries move towards more sustainable practices while trying to reduce overheads, now is the time to look at working with partners who have proven they can offer environmentally-conscious services at no extra cost. Doing so not only enhances your own organisation’s credentials, but can help to meet corporate social responsibility targets.
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