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

No Cop Out

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Well it’s finally over. Despite the ever present risk of abject failure, the twenty-first Conference of the Parties (COP21) is being hailed as a resounding success. And it is a success, because for the first time we have something approaching global consensus on how to protect the planet … Read more

Mark to Market

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Some very large industry associations are arguing for carbon markets at the COP21 meeting in Paris. The reasons for a global carbon market are compelling, however they tend to be based on a somewhat fragile premise: accountability, according to universal principles. A global carbon pricing model generally assumes … Read more

December in Paris

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner This week and next, Paris is hosting the Conference of the Parties (COP), the governing body of the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC). For the graphics industry, interest in it is roughly similar to that of many other sectors: tepid to lukewarm. And yet all … Read more

Top of the Leader Board

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner As if the deforestation and corrupt abuses by Asian Pulp & Paper (APP) weren’t bad enough for Indonesia, the country’s recently reached the top of the global warming rankings. Indonesia has achieved this dubious honour in the wake of massive fires that have been burning through great swathes … Read more

Stretching the Boundaries

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Auto Paper Stretch Compensation might not sound desperately exciting, but it can save a lot of waste and cost, especially for packaging production. This new technology from Heidelberg will be shown at drupa next year and although Auto Paper Stretch Compensation isn’t positioned in ecological terms it should … Read more