Digital Press Energy Usage Standard

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner ISO TC130 WG11, the committee and working group responsible for the environmental impact of print, want your help. We are working on a new standard for measuring the amount of energy a digital press uses. This document is an important and necessary companion to ISO 16759, which outlines … Read more

Curious Sustainability Messaging

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner At a recent drupa press event previewing new announcements for the show, the sustainability messaging was curious. Messe Düsseldorf, the exhibition’s organisers, failed to mention the environment in their opening remarks, deferring instead to the exhibitors. Fortunately the exhibitors participating in the press conference had a lot so … Read more

Pushing Forward for Print’s Circular Economy

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Maintaining momentum for any project is a lot of the battle for success. And the bolder the idea, the harder it gets to keep the energy coming. It’s hard with lofty ideas such as the Circular Economy, which aims to reshape business models so that we stop trashing … Read more

Recycling Paper Cups

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Reinvention and change and change again. That is what survival comes down to, especially in the graphics industry. James Cropper Paper has been making paper for a global market since 1845 over which period reinvention has been a constant for the company. Their story is not so unique … Read more

Stepping Back to Step Forward

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Sometimes it’s a good idea to take a step back and look at things from the outside. Within the graphics industry we can be proud of the fact that our environmental impact is relatively benign, because we can recycle so much of our consumables and output. Complacency won’t … Read more

Environmental Laws

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We recently received a 43 page document outlining environmental legislation that applies to printing companies. It was for one single country with around 7,000 printing companies! Reading through this lengthy document it becomes clear that legislators are working hard to protect us all from pollution and related nastiness. … Read more

Doing It

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It’s been about a month since the COP 21 meeting in Paris came to a close. The agreement adopted is now being drafted into a formal document that will be available in April for countries to sign. 196 countries were involved in drafting the goals for responding to … Read more

Spotters Guide to Greenwashing

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It’s everywhere and it’s pernicious. Greenwashing, the cloaking of a marketing intent in the language of sustainability and environmental awareness, is on the rise. Greenwashing undermines the credibility of those doing their best to develop sustainable media businesses. Worse still it is downright lazy and irresponsible, especially where … Read more

Sounding Out Instruments for Growth

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Striking a balance between growth and environmental responsibility is far from easy. Part of why it is so hard, is that there are so many different perspectives on sustainability. Some organisations treat it rather frivolously, as if the environment is a passing trend. Others go to the other … Read more

Carbon Balanced Paper

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Balance can be difficult to achieve. You may struggle to balance your books, get your socks on of a morning without excess hopping, or offset your business’s carbon. What you do to achieve balance in the first two examples is up to you. When it comes to the … Read more