The World Wide Web was once seen as the route to a paperless society. While e-mail boxes are stuffed and there is a booming e-commerce industry, there are still those people who can only be reached by print ads.
Advocacy group Environmental Defense calculates that one ton of virgin uncoated paper, which accounts for 90 percent of paper used in the U.S., consumes three tons of wood, more than 19,075 gallons of water and generates 2, 278 pounds of solid waste. While industries are slow to see this waste as significant, there is a turnaround in the offing.
For those of us who want to see forests saved and fewer trees cut down, that is only a partial step. The next logical step is the massive use of recycled paper and greener inks, which also allow us to use less water in the processing of wood pulp. Luckily, those wants have become so wide spread that nearly every industry leader is following those standards.
The switch to green printing may be progressing a little slower than some would like, but it is way ahead of the benchmark of just a decade ago. Who know what the next 10 years will bring.
What does your company do to make itself greener?
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