Green printing tip no. 30: How do you become Carbon Neutral in your next print job?

We are back with a new tip on our weekly series of green printing tips, where we bring you information on green printing in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today Greg is recommending how to make your next print job, as well as your own operations, carbon neutral.

How Do You Become Carbon Neutral in your next print job and in your own plant?

Tip #30

Most Printers create CO2 that is emitted into our atmosphere. We can reduce these emissions in several ways we talked about in the past:
- Use low volatile organic compounds, like Soy or Vegetable Based inks, or 100% Non Toxic Toners

- Print on 100% post-consumer waste paper

- Use Green E certified renewable energy

- Run your jobs efficiently by planning your print work around standard size paper and using standard inks and not metallic inks, etc.

After reducing your carbon footprint as much as you possibly can, you will still be left with some carbon emissions you're generating and the solution you should consider is offsetting them to become carbon neutral.

It's important of course to choose the right provider of carbon offsets and for your own business, we recommend looking at Verus Carbon Neutral Partnership (http://www.verus-co2.com). They audit your organization to determine your Carbon Footprint, and they provide a simple way to reduce or completely offset your CO2 emissions.

We, as your printer, buy Carbon Credits, and we can keep your Carbon Footprint low. You can do the same thing and keep your Carbon Footprint low or Carbon Neutral and we can print the Carbon Neutral emblem on your next print jobs.

For additional information on green printing, please call Greg Barber at (973) 224-1132, or email greg@gregbarberco.com.

Also, if you have any questions you would like us to address in future tips please email us to info@ecolibris.net .

Latest tips:

Green Printing Tip #29 - Why environmental views are not always in the core of business?

Green Printing Tip #28 - Green printing resolutions for the New Year!

Green Printing Tip #27 - Can you save money on paper on your next greeting cards order?

You can find links to all the tips we published so far on our green printing tips page, which is part of our green printing tools & resources.

You can also find further valuable information on Greg Barber Company's website - http://www.gregbarberco.com.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

John Sanderson on the idea of carbon neutral paper and other green paper issues

Can a sheet of paper be carbon neutral? what does it actually mean? and what is more eco-friendly - internet publishing or printed paper?

John Sanderson, former environmental activist and now UPM's (one of the world's leading forest industry groups) global head of environmental market support is answering these interesting questions and others in an interview with Mark Rushton, Editor, Pulp & Paper International Magazine.

I like Sanderson's approach especially when it comes to defining the relationship between online publishing and paper printing and I believe the way he describes them as complimentary to each other will become more and more common in the near future.

You can read the full interview HERE.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

Norway presents: green vision and inspiring goals

Today I would like to praise Norway. Not only that it announced last week on a bold target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, but it also becomes one of the biggest supporters of forests' protection.

The Norwegian government announced last Thursday on a new target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, 20 years earlier than previously planned.

How will Norway get there? well, according to their plans, up to two-thirds of the emissions cuts will be made domestically and the other third will be offset by investing around 3 billion crowns ($553.1 million) per year to combat deforestation in developing countries (carbon credits).

I wrote here before about Norway's support of protecting forests as a tool to fight global warming. Norway announced its willingness to contribute about $500 million a year to projects aimed at protecting forests in developing countries at the U.N. climate conference last month In Bali. In this conference, as ENN reminds us, it was agreed to launch pilot projects to grant poor countries credits for slowing deforestation under a new long-term climate pact beyond 2012.

Now Norway is reinforcing its commitment - according to ENN, Norway's prime minister on Friday, a day after Norway set the new goal that "protecting forests and burying greenhouse gases are key ways of slowing world climate change."

So, I think Norway deserves kudos for three reasons:

1. Becoming carbon neutral by 2030 is a bold move and it's great to see a country that has the guts to do it and become a role model to all the other countries, especially the developed ones.

2. It's important that most of the CO2 reductions are based on cutting the total emissions by two-thirds domestically and only one third is based on carbon credits. This is a good balance that shows a real commitment to take steps and change what needs to be changed (although it's still very vague how these cuts will be made).

3. I'm happy to see that the carbon credits will be focused on protecting forests in developing countries. Deforestation accounts for about 20 percent of total greenhouse gases, and I think that protection of forests can definitely become an efficient and valuable tool in the fight against global warming. And not tom mention all the other environmental and social benefits that these forests have. It's good that these forests has a powerful reach ally such as Norway - they need it!

I hope to see many countries follow Norway. It's not only their future. It's our future.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!