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Green: efficient, effective and sustainable
The environment is important, its just taken a step back given current economic conditions. The importance of green at any cost is perhaps changing to a stronger and more pragmatic call to be green while being efficient, effective and securing a sustainable business.
The print industry must improve its ability to demonstrate its green credentials. Whereas the old ‘dirty' image of print is dead, its progress towards being greener is not being credited fairly. Clearly, part of the blame lies with trade organisations, like prism, who have a clear responsibility to act as the industry's voice. We cannot do it alone, and I expect co-operation will be the way forward.
We need facts. There aren't enough around to substantiate claims about print's impact on the environment. Without a benchmark (and that is where carbon footprinting makes a bid to be the key metric in accrediting products with a measure of environmental worthiness) the market is totally at the mercy of performance and quality, and the impact on the environment is judged on what suppliers choose to say, or not say, about their products. For example, I recently heard of printers claiming to use environmentally friendly inks, buying a few kilos, and then substituting standard inks while maintaining the claim. Without standards, the industry is not transparent and the consumer may be duped.
Alternative technologies may provide some of the answers, but until the real lifetime environmental cost of print v digital v emerging LED and phosphorescent signage is known, there is no clear answer.
What we need is a way to improve the perception of print and its carbon footprint across the supply chain so buyers know the right answers to inform their purchase decisions. That way, decisions that meet companies' Corporate Social Responsibility policy objectives can be made, and being environmentally sound becomes a source of national and international competitive advantage.
The challenge is to help buyers evaluate the carbon footprint of different media products over the medium's lifetime. A suggested end result of this challenge is that each print job goes out with a sticker saying how much energy was used in production. Is it right for the industry, valid and achievable? Right now I don't really know. It would perhaps need to be a voluntary code. Let me know what you think.
Other prism news
The energy purchase scheme is underway with six members signed-up for the programme which is expected to deliver a reduction in the increased costs due with the existing suppliers of gas and electricity. Year-on-year cost may be increased, but not as much as it would without the intervention of the energy purchasing specialist retained by Prism. On a smaller scale, telephone costs have been reduced by 30 per cent at one member already.
Use of Croners legal advice line has increased since it became a free member service, showing the need for good corporate services is having an impact.
Inspection visits by HSE have been made easier via the regulatory bulletin and guidance notes available on Prism's website. Also, four Prism members have volunteered to help the HSE develop its guidance notes for hand-fed platens, initiated following a second UK fatality in a year.
The prism on-line store has been a success, the most popular purchases being: the Sensations book, UK Market Survey, and Michel Caza Screenprinting Techniques CD.
Prism is a member of Fespa and the UK association for print specialists and manufacturers.
For more information on Prism, go to http://www.prismuk.org/.
If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail on john.keith@prismuk.org or call on 01737 240792.
