Printers are gatekeepers of the printed world. Printers are uniquely positioned to improve their corporate customers’ environmental performance by providing the most ecologically friendly paper choices available. Further, due to their purchasing power, printers wield significant influence with both paper producers and forest companies – influence that can contribute to develop more sustainable practices on the ground.
Harnessing strength in numbers
Choosing a leading printer and the best available ecopaper helps protect the world’s endangered forests and mitigate climate change. It’s also good business. The paper a company chooses for its stationary, annual report and marketing materials can say as much about their values as the messages printed on it. With customers increasingly concerned about environmental issues, it pays to be environmentally savvy.
Reducing print footprints
Paper can account for 48 – 88% of a printed product’s carbon footprint[1].With the climate changing and the world’s endangered forests and species at risk, North American printers are increasingly taking steps to reduce their impact in the forest, improve their environmental footprint and help their clients do the same. An ecopaper procurement policy, developed in partnership with Canopy, is the place for printers to start. It’s the cornerstone of meaningful environmental action for printing companies.
Printers setting the pace with leading sustainable actions to protect forests are:
- Adopting strong paper procurement policies with a focus on ancient and endangered forest conservation;
- Actively engaging with their suppliers and environmental organizations like Canopy to advance protection in forest conservation hot spots;
- Setting targets and timelines for increased recycled and ecopaper use;
- Supporting innovative solutions such as using paper made from straw left over after harvest instead of tree-based paper; and
- Sharing detailed, transparent reporting of their sustainability initiatives.
Contact us for more information on how Canopy works with the printer sector.
Read more about Canopy’s work in the Printer Sector:
- View Canopy’s 2015 Blueline Report to see how North American printers rank on Forest Sourcing and Sustainability Performance
- Canopy’s Second Harvest Pulp & Paper Market Survey
- North America’s 2013 Green Print Leadership Report
- Printer Leadership Profiles on Forest Conservation
- Ten Tips to Put Your Business at the Forefront of Forest Conservation
- Printers with Ancient Forest Friendly Paper Procurement Policies
Sources:
1. Various carbon footprint studies (Time and In Style 2001, US Book Industry 2007 and Backpacker 2008) show that paper production is 48-88% of the footprint of a printed product, while printing is 4-8% of the total.
