Making textile printing more sustainable

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The history of textile printing is a history of innovation, from transferring colours to substrates with carved woodblocks to digitally printed fabrics. In between such bespoke options are a slew of industrial processes that produce all manner of textiles from linens and curtains through to couture garments and … Read more

FSC, PEFC and ISO 38200

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The foresight of both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is to be commended. Both organisations provide Chain of Custody (CoC) certifications for wood and wood-based products (furniture, paper and so on). The two have long been striving to … Read more

Environmental thinking on a bigger scale

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Imagination, ideas and technological innovation are what progress is all about. We care about what we understand, what we know, so we generally focus only on what directly impacts us. It is time for this narrow view to change. When it comes to graphics industry inventions that reduce … Read more

Monitoring sustainability

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner It should be a normal expectation that companies would choose to police their own sustainability performance. And yet we still cannot manage to do it on any sort of realistic scale. This is dangerous for the graphics industry, because the alternative is regulation by external entitites. We already … Read more

Tax benefits from digital printing investments

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The environmental benefits of digital printing are obvious and broadly recognised. Print buyers and publishers can operate with reduced inventories. Less waste is produced during production and through excess production. With a digital workflow, make readies are faster and direct output means lower consumables and energy usage. The … Read more

Inks Matter

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The packaging industry is ripe for disruption, especially when it comes to inks. The sector’s in the sights of digital press manufacturers, print service providers and print buyers. And consumers want to feel better about using packaging that cannot easily be recycled. They don’t want to be responsible … Read more

Cutting insurance costs through certification

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Insurance companies are starting to pay more attention to certifications in the graphics industry. If you can prove that you run your business well, for instance with a certification to ISO 9001 or 14001 management standards, they reckon you are a lower risk outfit. This can mean that … Read more

Communications and Energy Demands

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner In his Bruno Kessler Lecture last year, Roberto Viola, Director-General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology at the European Commission, said that energy usage by European data centres will grow by 20% by 2020. The calculation is based on figures from 2015 when data centres consumed over 104 … Read more

Sustainability auditing

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Doing something to improve the environmental sustainability of your business should be easy, but it can often seem scary. We have found that business owners in the graphics industry generally start with the obvious quick fixes, such as simplifying onsite recycling or switching to LED lighting before often … Read more

Kodak’s Sonora Plate Green Leaf award winners leading the way

The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Every year Kodak recognises printers around the world for their sustainability progress. To qualify for the Kodak Sonora Plate Green Leaf Award printing companies must use the Kodak Sonora processless plate and manage their businesses in a way that reduces overall environmental impact. In 2017, the fourth year … Read more