This was a quote from a former colleague while we were building a carbon calculator for a client back in 2010.
I was working with a well-known public sector client and part of the brief was to provide a calculation of the carbon generated on any print work we were quoting.
My colleague feared being challenged.
Was the printing industry causing rainforest deforestation?
Were we really responsible for Orangutans losing their habitats or culling Penguins to make oil for printing inks?
With messages such as “Go green, go paperless” and “choose e-billing, save a tree”, the impression is that we in the print industry are damaging the environment and creating the following myths.
Go Green, give trees a break with this paperless alternative.
Its creating many myths, like below, around this subject which seriously need dispelling.
• European forests are shrinking - The forests used for harvesting wood and paper production are growing by 1500 football pitches a day!
• Paper is a wasteful product - Over 70% of paper based products are recycled in Europe, 7% isn't recycled with should be and the rest are products which can't be recycled as they are nappies or sanity products.
• Paper is bad for the environment - The forests are managed responsibly, conserving the natural habitat.
• Only recycled paper should be used - The fibres in paper can only be recycled on average 3.6 times.
• The paper industry is a major energy user and produces greenhouse gases - 60% of energy in paper production comes from Biomass
This is known as ‘Greenwashing’.
What I mean by ‘Greenwashing’ is making a statement about the environment to demonstrate that they have a sustainability policy or care about the environment, as it feels like the ‘right thing to do’, where as it’s generally pretty ill-informed. . It is everywhere and it is damaging the print industry.
Is the environment paramount when making financial business decisions?
The real driver at the boardroom level is for reduced costs and at the consumer level for convenience.
If a company says they're eco-friendly, you may want to buy their products for this reason alone, supporting their cause.
However, if these environmental claims turn out to be false, then you've accidentally contributed to harming the environment by supporting said company and their claims.
What I am saying is, if a company you are looking to buy from, work with or support is making claims about supporting the environment, do your research first.