Green paper

I joined a new green networking group on Monday here in Sydney called The GreenBiz Cafe. I was pleasantly surprised to find a dozen or so enthusiasts in the cafe, regardless of the horrendously stormy, rainy and cold weather outside. Can't complain really, our water tanks are now full :)!

The evening's topic was Green Printing, which I found very interesting. The guest speaker Ms. Jackson explained what could be considered as 'green' printing and how Finsbury Green has tackled their sustainability challenges in a business, which is renowned to be very chemically driven, and waste rich. Instead of just looking at what your paper is made of when planning printing jobs, she challenged us to look at the whole end to end chain:

Does the paper come from sustainable managed forests or correctly recycled materials via responsible factories? If paper’s ad says 10% recycled material, ask where the other 90% is coming from? And who can guarantee it? I'd look for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sign.

What printing inks and finishes do the printer use? Are they vegetable based and there is none/little alcohol and VOCs involved?

Does the printer have an environmental plan to ensure water, energy and waste are managed efficiently? If their view of ‘eco friendly’ is allowing guys to work without ties so they save on air con, and claim to save energy…ah, I rest my case.

Is your designer thinking creatively - instead of A4 sheet could your message be printed in a smaller space? Plus do you really need all those 5000 copies when you still have 1000 copies left from last year’s Xmas campaign? Less paper - less ink - smaller print run - cheaper cost.

What delivery mechanism is used (foot/bike, car, air, truck or train) and how far does the product travel? It is no point claiming to do an eco friendly print job if your papers are flown half across the world.

The best question was saved to the last and really made my thinking hat glow. Is it truly better to download documents and files over the Internet, or are there any circumstances where actually getting them in print format from the source actually a better option for our environment (obviously assuming you recycle the product in end of life)?

I look forward to next meeting and hearing more thought provoking subjects...

Reefs are suffering - go save Nemo

A friend recently returned from a holiday of sun, fun and snorkelling. Ah! I was envious seeing all those wonderful photos of colourful reef life - fish, coral, plants and so forth. But it also made me think of the threats the reefs - and economies reliant on them- are facing at the moment.

In Australian Queensland alone, it is estimated that the reef and rainforest collectively generates $7 billion yearly and employs over 60,000 people, so the health of these systems are extremely important to the local economy as well.

Local and international research has proven that climate change and human behaviour are linked to the degrading state of our reefs. Luckily, activists lobbying to save the reef have got a lot of politicians and the public involved and there has been increase in research and conservation investments lately.

'Treat the symptom' approaches have also been taken and trials of planting corals that adapt to higher temperatures are being researched. This is great to try to keep the coral alive, but shouldn't we look more into the real underlying reasons why the deterioration of reefs is happening and do something about the it?

This year is the 'International Year of the Reef' which includes events, competitions and a lot of international collaboration and research on the subject. The highlight event ,'International Coral Reef Symposium' is currently happening in Florida, and unfortunately the news emerging from there are not looking too good.

I have been lucky enough to snorkel amongst 'nemos' and friends and see the colourful Great Barrier Reef during 2006. Being an optimist I still hope that next time I get up to Northern Queensland, there will be tourist operators still taking us to see the colourful, living and diverse reef life.