Green Printing With AlphaGraphics

When you think of printing, do you think of it as a green initiative?  You might be surprised at how AlphaGraphics can help your business with sustainable practices. It is a process that encompasses much more than selecting recycled paper.  Sustainable practices cover everything from forestry practices to document strategy and design, print process, eco-friendly materials, and fulfillment.

When working with clients, we often make sustainable recommendation about recycled papers, double sided printing or converting projects to print-on-demand to avoid waste.  Today we understand that sustainability starts long before a project goes into production.  The Design community has recognized that designers, along with key decision makers, play a major role in ensuring sustainable practices are in play and finished projects are truly green.  By vetting projects within categories like strategy, execution, packaging, distribution and end-of-life, you can ensure your projects are sustainable.

For more on Sustainable Design check out Design Can Change and their Sustainable Design Checklist:  http://www.designcanchange.org/files/dcc_checklist.pdf

The Green Power of Digital Printing

There are many best practices within digital printing that can help your company meet sustainable and green standards.  Digital print-on-demand is a revolutionary process - especially when it comes to sustainable practices. With high-quality output than rivals traditional off-set in many circumstances, there are many benefits to digital printing :

• Printing what you need, when you need it reduces waste due to materials changes, errors, or obsolescence.
• Digital printing and print-on-demand allows for total customization, which yields much stronger response rates.  From customized presentations to direct mail pieces, your projects are more meaningful when they are personalized.
• Digital toner is non-toxic, doesn’t produce toxic-waste, and comes in cartridges that are easily reused and recycled.
• Utilizing our agOnline service means approved users can easily order, update, and ship customized and standardized materials like brochures, business cards, letterhead, etc., on demand. So while you no longer have storage rooms filled with brochures and forms, you can just as easily “grab” what you need when you need it, and even have it customized. We can often turn around these projects in as little as 24 hours, no minimums, no hassles.

Shopping Local=Sustainable

Shopping with local establishments is also a sustainable act.  When goods and services are rendered locally, you conserve energy by removing the shipping component. Shipped items often require more packaging than projects you pick-up from your local printer.  It’s not only environmentally healthier, it also builds healthier communities by creating localized, tight-knit relationships and boosting the local economy. Shopping local keeps more money circulating in the local community over big box chains that are headquartered outside of the state or country.

There are just a few of our best-known practices. We are always trying to help our clients that put green/sustainable concerns first through expert advice, innovation, and researching new methodologies.  Call us today to find out how we can help you go green!