48hourprint.com Makes a Corporate Commitment to the Environment

Online printing company, 48hourprint.com, makes this claim on their website: “Good for You. Good for the Environment.” That’s quite a statement from an industry that is known to produce a lot of waste, not to mention being closely tied to the notorious paper industry, but they have the evidence to back it up.

48 Hour Print is not the only online printing company to make a public statement about being environmentally oriented, but they are one of the most active in pursuing that distinction. There is a whole page on the company’s website dedicated to describing just how they accomplish that objective.

Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

48 Hour Print has earned Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which indicates that an independent certifying organization has verified that 48HourPrint meets the certifying standards. The FSC is not a government agency but an independent group that has, as its mission, the promotion of responsible management of the world’s forests. There are two aspects the FSC’s system, which they describe as follows:

“1. Forest Management certification ensures that the forest is managed to high standards covering social, environmental and economic issues.
2. Chain of Custody certification traces the wood from those forests through all stages of processing and distribution.”

For 48 Hour Print, the certification means that they get their stock from certified producers, who in turn get their raw material from certified sources.

The printing company offers recycled paper as the standard stock for almost all their products at no additional cost. This means that you can get everything from tri fold brochures to shiny party flyers printed on recycled paper or cardstock. Recycled cardboard or recycled boxes are used for shipping products and where packaging materials are needed, biodegradable types are used.

Green printing practices are also part of the commitment. These include using only paper that has not been whitened with bleach or chlorine and using soy-based inks to avoid the volatile organic compounds found in most commercial inks.

They recommend their biodegradable water-based aqueous coatings, which are available for both matte and gloss finishes rather than the more toxic UV coating used by most printers. Energy and chemical usage are minimized by investing in only the most efficient printing presses (Komori LS 640 presses to be exact.) The company has two locations, and they make sure to process the order at the one closest to the final destination in order to minimize fuel usage for delivery.

The green policy goes beyond the production floor into the corporate environment. Every desk has a recycling container. Paper waste is huge in most offices, and these recycling stations make sure it doesn’t happen here. There are also recycling containers for bottles and cans in the break areas, plus the company distributes coffee mugs and drinking glasses to employees so they aren’t using disposables at their desks all day.

Somewhat ironically, “paperless” meetings are encouraged and e-faxes are employed to save on both paper and toner.

One would expect any printing company to be prepared to print flyers on recycled paper, but 48HourPrint.com offers a recycled stock for everything except white wove stock, GF-photo Intellicoat Magic Gloss” and vinyl, which are clearly very specialized items.

Next time you need printing done, why not get fast, affordable, quality printing that also benefits the environment?