{"id":2193,"date":"2026-06-29T16:07:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:07:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:07:05","slug":"communication-is-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaldots.info\/?p=2193","title":{"rendered":"Communication is key"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"\u00a0The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing information about your sustainability credentials with people who care is a faff. This is mainly because communications is a faff unless you are a marketing whizz or good at public relations. The problem for people who are rubbish at communications is where to start. It\u2019s like when you write a personal letter or email and start with Dear whoever. Then what? You don\u2019t know what to put next because your mind goes completely blank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people face this kind of writer\u2019s block and it can be a problem, if you have customers who want to know more about your business sustainability. It helps if you have already got some documents that address it. These could be company policies, such as health and safety, your code of conduct and policies to do with human resources. The trouble is that sustainability isn\u2019t commonly part of any of these, even though it should be. Maybe health and safety will mention something about how to manage waste and recycling, but that is probably about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the where to start question for communicating your sustainability is not easy to answer. And perhaps it is the wrong question in the first place. Why are you keen to share your sustainability credentials, if you don\u2019t really have any beyond basic greenwash? The truly sustainable company has baked sustainability into its corporate policies, from hiring through to fleet management. Sustainability goes beyond policy though because it starts with ambition and that means setting targets for the business. Those targets can be relatively simple such as a reduction in your direct emissions (also known as Scope 1 emissions) by ten percent over the next five years. Or they can be bold and ambitious such as to produce 100% of energy used in the business using solar and wind power within two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever it is, the business must have the resources to support the goals, be they financial or human. Besides environmental actions, sustainability also applies to economic and societal actions. Consider how your financial goals for the business align with your aspirations for environmental sustainability. Communicating your plans is easy once you have put them in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re still at the aspirational rather than the practical stage, put together a Sustainability Action Plan and make a list of what that plan might include based on what you are prepared to commit to. Start with Make List. Not only is writing a list an easy thing to commit to, you\u2019ll have something you can achieve right away. More seriously your commitments to sustainability will cover such things as long term financial performance (improves with better process control and waste management), customer satisfaction (improves when you don\u2019t have waste-generating do overs), sustainable supply chains (improves your readiness to answer customer sustainability queries). Your list will depend on your business and its needs, but make a start. You\u2019ll soon find that sustainability communication gets a lot easier, because you\u2019ll have plenty to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was produced by the <\/em>Verdigris Project,<\/em><\/a> an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print\u2019s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: <\/em>Agfa Graphics<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>EFI<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Fespa<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Fujifilm<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>HP<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Kodak<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Miraclon<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Ricoh<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Unity Publishing<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Xeikon<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please also include the Verdigris logo and a link to this website. If you don\u2019t already have our logos, you can get them by downloading the <\/em>\u201cPublishers Bundle\u201d<\/em><\/a>. And don\u2019t forget terms of the Creative Commons license at the footer of the site. Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0The Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Sharing information about your sustainability credentials with people who care is a faff. This is mainly because communications is a faff unless you are a marketing whizz or good at public relations. The problem for people who are rubbish at communications is where to start. It\u2019s like when you … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t