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/

E-Waste

Had an interesting article in my mail this morning regarding Electronic Products Wastes, or E-Waste....

Government Technology is reporting via a spiffy infogrpahic how much waste is generated annually from electronic devices like televisions, computers, and cell phones. (its about 2.5 million tons if you want to skip the link).

While I understand the irony involved in telling you about e-waste via a computer blog, I am going to compound that irony by putting in a plug for paper, the most recycled product on the planet currently.

Follow the link, look at the infographic, and think before you toss that broken keyboard in the trash.

Full size graphic here

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/

In-Plant versus Ooops

To err is human, to really screw things up takes a committee.

Or, in this case, a Corporation.

R R Donnelley Screws up a job for Google, as reported by In-Plant Graphics. And they point out that an external company has to ultimately answer to their own shareholders more so than to the clients they are printing for.

Not sure if this qualifies as a full point for the In-Plant Team, but I know every In-Plant manager out there is making a copy of this story to put in their files.

Happy (Fiscal) New Year!

Happy Fiscal New Year everyone.

Line by Line

I guess I'll keep with a theme and share another Letter Press story, this time about Jerry Richardson in Fargo North Dakota...

Jerry Richardson is a man of letters – many, many letters. 

Talk to the 82-year-old and you’ll likely get a carefully considered, concise response delivered in a low, quiet, even tone. 

While not known for his prose, he is well respected for his visual presentations of words in print. 

In the basement of his Ninth Street home in Fargo, Richardson runs two letterpresses, producing some of the finest textual prints in the region, from individual literary lines to limited edition books and broadsides. 

To paraphrase a great orator, Teddy Roosevelt, “Speak softly and carry a big pica pole.”

One of the printing presses in Richardson’s basement weighs about 2,000 pounds. Each piece of paper that is printed on is placed by hand. Dave Wallis / The Forum
Read the entire article here: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/374709/

Old becomes new again....

Everything old becomes new again.... not sure I have the cliche exactly correct even if the idea is appropriate.

http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/entertainment/168205986.html


In a small town in Canada, at the Okanagan College, a new project called 'The Bunker' is opening soon.

What makes The Bunker so special? It is a Letter Press shop that is going to teach students how to set type by hand and print with ink on paper. And when I say ink I mean the kind that gets under your fingernails and stains your fingertips like your Father and Grandfather used in their shops.

I am very excited to see a program like this opening even if it is in Canada, and therefore very far away from here, because this is how I got my start in printing. I have a huge appreciation for modern typesetting and layout programs because I know what it used to be like. And I truly appreciate the irony of early in my career being 'rushed' to manually typeset a newsletter in several days to now being 'rushed' to typeset the same newsletter in an hour or less. As the technology improves so do the expectations placed upon the technology.

Anyway... click the link above and admire some beautiful equipment and enjoy the glimpse back to the print shops of the 50's and 60's.