In these tough economic times, everyone wants to save money. But what happens when money-saving options conflict with environmental stewardship?
One area of concern is paper. As fuel costs have come down, publishers looking to save money on distribution are looking at heavier paper. Although the paper itself costs more than lightweight grades, the heavier stock allows them to take advantage of lower freight rates, which have come down significantly since last summer’s peak oil prices.
The Dead Tree Edition, for example, recently encouraged periodical publishers to consider this option in an article “Heavier Paper Can Save Money.”
But at what environmental cost? Heavier paper may cost less to ship, but it takes more fuel. You’ve got the same number of pages, carrying the same amount of information, but at a higher level of fuel consumption. Heavier paper also takes more energy to transport and ship before printing.
So is heavier paper really the right choice? Are there other design considerations you could make that could save money without going to freight?
- Could you adjust the trim size so that you more efficiently use the sheet of paper (get more “up” on the sheet)?
- Could you more tightly target your mailings so that you are sending fewer, but more relevant pages to recipients?
- How about just cleaning up your list so that you are not producing catalogs or magazines that are sent to undeliverable addresses?
Moving to heavier basis weight paper might be one way to save money, but there are other ways to save money, too — ways that are more environmentally responsible. So before you take the easy way out, ask yourself, “Is it worth the environmental cost?”
Like this post? See all my “Greening Print Marketing” posts.
Image: courtesy of The Stock Xchange (magazines 2, uploaded by lusi)
The print process itself is also important. Members of the waterless printing association should be looked at for their world class green printing standards.
The print process itself is also important. Members of the waterless printing association should be looked at for their world class green printing standards.
I agree. I encourage readers concerned about the environmental impact of their print marketing to click through the links to my archive to read about the environmental issues associated with toner-based printing, direct imaging, waterless printing, inkjet printing, and more. There are a lot of issues many people may not have thought about, so it’s worth a few clicks to check out.
I agree. I encourage readers concerned about the environmental impact of their print marketing to click through the links to my archive to read about the environmental issues associated with toner-based printing, direct imaging, waterless printing, inkjet printing, and more. There are a lot of issues many people may not have thought about, so it’s worth a few clicks to check out.
excellent article…tunfortunately I think the majority of big business people are only concerned with how much money they can make or save, not the environment…if there is an environmentally friendly way to do it cheaper then they will do it..and then go on to advertise that they are “environmentally friendly” but really they are only doing it to make more money…in order for most companies to survive in this economy they have to be able to do it the cheapest and offer the low prices