digitaldots.info

Digital Dots is an independent graphic arts research group specialising in digital prepress, printing and publishing technologies. The company is a collection of like-minded consultants and professional journalists with decades of experience working in the graphic arts industry. We publish a range of articles and reports and we also manage The Verdigris Project.

Planning, Doing, Checking and Acting on Sustainability

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner When it comes to commitment to the environment and sustainability in the graphic arts, Ricoh is a clear leader having been at it since the 1990s. The company’s belief is that “economic, social, and environmental issues are inseparable” according to its sustainability report for 2014. For a company … Read more

Printing Out the Internet (yes, really)

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It may sound like a joke, but a group of British university students has recently completed a research project using this as a starting point. The University of Leicester students wanted to know how much of the Amazon rainforest it would take to print out the internet. There … Read more

Measuring Our Industry’s CO2 Emissions

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner According to the US Energy Information Administration the country’s energy related CO2 emissions are rising. So much for all that green-speak; more a bath than a wash. But it might not be as bad as it seems because increases of 2% to 3% are actually small relative to … Read more

LEDs the Cool Curing Alternative

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner There’s been much attention of late on the use of mercury arc lamps for curing applications in the printing industry. This technology is widely used however it has some serious drawbacks, not least the fact that it uses an awful lot of energy even when not actually curing … Read more

What’s the Point of Earth Day?

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner To many people the 45th anniversary of Earth Day on the 22nd April was just another Wednesday. But the particular Wednesday was rather more momentous than your average day. In honour of the occasion, some one billion people around the world have been getting involved in raising awareness … Read more

Carbon Footprints a Lighter Tread

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner For many years the graphics industry has been doing its bit to minimise carbon footprints, mostly because cutting waste saves money and time. But whatever the motivation, together with other industries we may be helping to make a difference. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reckons that global efforts … Read more

Environmental Product Declarations & Print Media

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a quantification of something’s environmental impact. EPDs can be created for anything from home furnishings to newspapers. They provide all sorts of environmental data, from raw material impact through to emissions to water and waste generation. They are wonderful tools, but they … Read more

Not Quite Hobson’s Choice

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Environmental management is something all businesses should bother with, but it’s such a wooly term. In a way it has to be vague because it means running your business to have the least negative environmental impact possible, and how do you define that? If you’re in the mining … Read more

Taking the P**s

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The idea of using rubbish to create energy goes back to the first bonfire, but only a handful of companies in the graphic arts industries seem to be paying much heed to using biomass. Toppan Printing has developed a laminated packaging material that contains around 10% of biomass … Read more