What if I bring you the paper?

What if I bring you the paper?

We get this question quite often. And there are two answers depending on why you are asking....

The typical answer.... "No thank you, our machines are rather finicky when it comes to what they eat." Or the variant of "We have them on special diets and can't feed them anything not approved by their doctors."

When someone is asking to supply paper in attempt to reduce the cost of a project we still give them the answer above but for a different reason. If you think about it for a moment you will understand too.... the paper is usually the smallest cost of a project.

Lets take a typical color copy project, say 100 flyers. That project will cost $29 to complete based on our current price book and that price includes the paper, the toner, the machine, and staff/shop time. The paper is about 1 cent of the cost of each flyer, the machine is about 23 cents, and the remaining 5 cents covers the cost of the shop (staff, electricity, etc...).

In other words, thank you for the offer of paper but our machines are on strict diets and are only allowed to eat certain papers or they will get sick.

Greenwashing for Earth Day

Yes, Earth Day was a few days ago, I know. The following article is an open letter inspired by Earth Day and is directed to those who 'Greenwash', those who claim that going paperless is somehow better for the Earth...

I’ve had it with my bank and all the other companies that are bashing paper products to promote electronic billing, statements and other e-services.  Yes…I’ve finally lost it.
I have decided to be diplomatic and not name you…but we all know who you are.
To my bank and other providers out there who are doing this:You are damaging my livelihood and you are misleading people with greenwashing so that you can cut costs.  Please be honest.

Read the rest of the letter here:

http://twosidesus.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/my-earth-day-request-cut-the-anti-paper-greenwashing/

Paper - some myths and some facts

From the linked article:

Paper comes in many formats – newspapers, magazines, tissue, packaging, books, banknotes and printing papers. Paper is made from a natural, renewable and sustainable resource and boasts the highest recycling rate of any material in the UK.

While the article is from a Consortium in the UK, it is still an interesting read.

And it reminds me of something I used to ask people when they would say paper is dead..... If paper is so dead then you won't mind giving me all of your paper money to chuck in the recycling bin.

Read on, its a good site with great information.

http://www.paper.org.uk/mythsandfacts/

Paper or Plastic?

No, not for your shopping bag... for your milk!

Print Week has an interesting article about plastic milk jugs compared to carton-packs.


While carton-packs are less common here in the U.S., maybe we should become a bit more familiar with them for some environmental reasons.

Follow the link and see for yourself.




http://www.printweek.com/Business/article/1138764/bottles-use-50-finite-resources-carton-packs/?utm_source=WhatTheyThink+Newsletters&utm_campaign=dfe2065890-wtt_goinggreen_11110111_1_2011&utm_medium=email

Gift Wrap

Remember being a kid on your birthday and seeing your present all wrapped up with a big bow on top?

Or all the presents under the Christmas Tree with the ribbons and bows?

Or, maybe more recently in your life, all of your wedding gifts or baby-shower gifts wrapped in the cute papers with the matching bows and matching cards?

The mystery of what is inside that box that rattles so tantalizingly? The wish that you could see through that wrapping paper to try and glean what the box underneath says?

What would you do without gift paper? What would you do without wrapping paper? How much fun would it be if everyone just handed you the box and said Happy Birthday and denied you the excitement of tearing through that gift wrap to see what gift awaited underneath?

Paper has presence.

Paper has meaning.

Paper matters.


Thank you to Hammer, Stitch, Burn for the great image.

Get it? Presence... Presents.... I should probably get out more.

Paper Ephemera

A gentleman by the name of Chuck Whiting runs a blog called Paper Matters where he discusses rare ephemera and out-of-print books. Its a nice blog, you should check it out when you have a minute or two...

The reason I am point out Mr Whiting's blog is specifically because of this image:

A ticket from a 1968 football game at Houston's Astrodome.

With the push to have more of your life 'in the cloud' or otherwise represented by bits and bytes I have to wonder.... what are you going to pin to your bulletin board to remember the things from your past? What are you going to tape into your scrapbook to remind you of the things you forgot?

Having your concert tickets represented as a bar code on your smart phone is neat and being able to check in to your flight the same way can be more than a little handy.

But is it better?

The Paper Trail

Sometimes, there’s just no substitute for paper.

Really!

Another article from Paper Because that I enjoyed and think you will too....

Two points specifically from the article:

...Indeed, financial institutions have been promoting this service [Paperless Options] not only for its convenience to customers but also as a way for them to help “save trees” and protect the environment by reducing paper use. The latter may be a great selling point, but is it true?

Well, it might be saving tree's but that isn't really their goal. It is saving the company money. But how much of that savings is being passed along to you as the end user/consumer?

And the second point:

...a strategically placed “honey-do list” is a constant and persistent reminder, improving the odds that items will get checked off. In fact, a survey conducted by lifehack.org showed thatnot only do most people use a paper to do list, but that paper is more than twice as popular as any other method listed."

I know my wife uses the 'strategically placed to-do list' all the time. And it is always on paper.

See the Forrest for the Trees

I keep hearing "Print Kills Trees!"

I say No, it doesn't.

And Oce was kind enough to write this press release backing me up....

Customers Benefit As Océ Eco Start Program Accelerates

... funded the planting of over 350,000 trees in 2011...to help offset CO2 emissions attributable to the energy usage from production equipment during the first year of operation. 

Well, OK, they didn't write the article for me. They did, however, plant 350,000 trees in 2011 to help offset the carbon footprint of the company.

Print may kill trees, but the companies that make print happen are doing a whole lot more than you think to put trees back in the ground.

Good Design

Good design still matters

Paper Because has an interesting article about the benefits of paper using 'Good Design.' The best line from the article, in my opinion at least:

...Design really does still matter, whether your ultimate goal is to open people’s minds to new experiences, generate profits, raise funds or increase awareness of an important social issue. And a quality printed piece can speak loudly on your behalf – and get you the response you are looking for.

Quality design, quality product, quality response. There seems to be a theme involved.....

The end of money?

Found an interesting idea that Canada is working on called MintChip. No, not an ice cream flavor... an attempt at making the future of money digital.

There are lots of reasons to make money not actually be physical money, and probably as many or more not to. And one of the reasons that is probably only obvious to printers like myself....what happens to all the printers who print the money? What happens to all the specialized printing equipment that now isn't needed? There is considerably more at stake than just making money be on your smart-phone.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Jason and the Paperless Office

Fun little two-minute video I thought you might enjoy.

Wait for the end....

http://www.paperbecause.com/media/jason-and-the-paperless-workplace

Ha!

Pixels versus Paper

Received a link to an interesting article today regarding Pixels versus Printing.

Paper And The Sustainability Issue by Joann Whitcher.

The article discusses the increasing push-back from the Paper and Print industries regarding some of the environmental claims of 'Paper is Bad for the Environment.' Some of the highlights of the article are the claims of environmental sustainability of email versus printing as well as some of the claims of environmental impacts and carbon footprints from both sides of the debate.

Can email be as 'green' as a letter when less than 20 percent of a computer is recyclable and more than 80% of the computers and electronics wind up in a landfill.

Follow the link. Read the article. Let me know what you think.