It requires three tons of wood, over 19000 gallons of water and over 200 pounds of solid waste to manufacture one ton of virgin paper. It is a well known fact that production of paper relies heavily on cutting down of trees in the forests. We all are well aware of the rising environmental threats due to the mass cutting down of trees. But we also know that paper is an indispensable part of life. No matter how much we use the internet and other tech gadgets for communication, we still rely a lot on paper and paper work. We use paper for our printing, reading and writing needs.
Hence, in order to take care of the environment, we need to check the printing process. The typical procedure that the regular printing presses adopt is not eco friendly. They produce harmful wastes and VOCs (volatile organic compounds). The extensive use of petroleum based inks leads to high amount of VOCs. As a result, air gets polluted even more and leads to various respiratory disorders.
The solution is to print green. Certified green printers carefully plan their jobs in a way that minimizes energy usage. The paper they use is FSC certified which means that it is sourced from well managed forests. This puts a check on the unorganized cutting down of trees. These papers are post consumer wastes, uncoated, processed chlorine free and are produced by renewal energy sources. The use of petroleum based inks are eliminated with the usage of vegetable based inks and soy inks. Also, use of colors containing health threatening metallic elements like copper, zinc and barium is avoided.
As per statistics, the printing industry ranks very high for consumption of fossil fuels. The printing process of conventional printers is a cause of increasing air pollution. So if you care for Mother Earth, it’s time to go green with green printing.
