8 Eco Friendly Printing Benefits and Advantages
Whatever business sector you are in, going the eco-friendly way is always an excellent idea. This is especially true when it comes to printing in an eco-friendly manner.
Eco-friendly printing is better than the traditional printing methods from whichever angle you look at it. In recent years, eco-friendly printing methods have continued to gain popularity in both traditional and flexographic industries, largely because of its many benefits. The following are just eight benefits of eco-friendly printing:
1. It Helps Reduce Waste and Cutting Down of Trees
Companies that offer environment-friendly printing services often use recycled paper. The amount of paper dumped into trash cans every day is voluminous. By recycling them, you help to conserve the environment. Paper is a byproduct of trees, and considering the demand it has in the market today, paper-producing factories are responsible for cutting down too many trees. This destroys the natural flora and fauna.
Paper manufacturing is among the industries considered the most harmful to the environment. It destroys a substantial amount of acres of wildlife and churns out a ton of waste. Environment-friendly printers assist in dealing with the problem of cutting down of trees by using FCS-certified paper. Besides, recycling paper as an alternative to extensive logging has a positive impact on the environment.
2. Reduces the Amount of Ink Used
Eco-friendly printing, also known as green printing, is a great way of reducing the amount of ink a printer uses in each stage of the printing process. The type of ink used in eco-friendly printing usually varies depending on the company providing it, but they all have one thing in common; they use less ink than other regular printers.
3. It Is Affordable
Another reason you should adopt green printing is its affordability. Regular printing can be very costly. However, eco-friendly printing cuts down on costs by using recycled paper and small quantities of ink. The money you save by using green printing methods can be reallocated to other tasks. Another reason eco-friendly printing services are affordable is that they consume less energy.
4. Eco-Friendly Printing Retains your Current Customers and Attracts New Ones
With each day that passes, people are becoming more conscious about environmental conservation, and more are actively advocating for it. If your business is using eco-friendly methods of printing, you are more likely to attract new customers and retain the existing ones as well. People love the idea of getting services from environment-friendly establishments.
5. Eco-Friendly Practices Attract Both Investors and Employees
It is a basic human instinct to want to be associated with positive things. Although this applies to all generations, the younger ones are more sensitive about issues concerning environmental conservation. This is because they were raised on a steady dose of environmental protection messages. Considering this is where most of your employees will come from, you want to make sure you appeal to them. Employees or investors will not want to be associated with a company that is implicated in social welfare scandals and ecological disasters.
By simply showing the consumers (that is where both your investors and employees will come from) your company is respectful to the environment and its employees, you will attract the right calibre of people to your organization, and investors will want a stake in your business.
6. Eco-Friendly Printing Improves Brand Image and Overall Competitive Advantage
Typically, a business does well by doing good. According to a survey done by the Natural Marketing Institute in the United States, 58 percent of consumers look at the impact of a company on the environment before making the final decision as to where they will procure their goods or services from and are more likely to go for a company with eco-friendly practices. A company that cares about the environment cares for the community.
7. Traditional Printers Use Harmful Inks
Eco-friendly printers typically use vegetable and soy-based inks, which are not as harmful as petroleum-based inks that traditional printers use. Traditional printers use petroleum-based compounds, which contain 25-35% volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds have been linked to various health conditions such as damage to the kidney, liver and the central nervous system; irritation in the throat, nose and eyes; headaches, nausea, and finally, loss of coordination.
Some of these organic compounds are known to cause cancer in animals, while others are suspected of causing cancer in humans. On the other hand, eco-friendly printers utilize vegetable compounds, which contain 0% VOC content.
8. B-Corp Certification
You may ask yourself why a b-corp certification is important. Well, it is because a b-corp certification means your business has met high standards of legal accountability, public transparency, and has a verified positive environmental and social impact.
This helps to balance purpose and profit. Because of their high standards, b-corps tend to form a leaders’ community to drive the global agenda. The idea is to use businesses for good. If your business has a b-corp certification, consumers immediately know they are working with a reputable company.