Industry, working together, can achieve many advances in sustainability.
Most individual printing companies are small, but the industry is large and they can achieve a lot by working collectively. We need to look outward and see what other industries are doing for energy and resource efficiency.
There is no quick route to becoming a sustainable printer, and companies must be involved for the long term; paper is now being produced from sustainable sources that are highly recycled and helps mitigate climate change through responsible forestry. For its part, the printing industry consumes a lot of energy, and switching to renewable energy could reduce a printer’s primary emission by up to 90%.
Because of the tangible nature of printing, it is relatively straightforward to measure, reduce and offset wider impacts, such as distribution and materials use.
But what we face today goes beyond being a simple “environmental problem” – people are already suffering and even dying from the impacts of climate change; industries are losing revenue from storms, heat waves and flash floods. We need to understand our future climate and prepare for it. Much remains to be done to protect property, personnel and business continuity; change must start now.
Organizations must play a key role in highlighting the sustainability footprint of their products, because consumer awareness of the environmental impact of many products is low.
The new consumer profile, after the advent of Covid-19, prioritizes and will in the future prioritize sustainability as a factor that will change their purchasing habits. Demonstrating values focused on a sustainable world will therefore be beneficial in attracting a consumer with greater awareness and greater interest in the way we produce and manage our products.
Let’s work to be more sustainable, and to contribute to the ecological change that our planet and future generations need.
Source:Clare Taylor Consulting, Nubeprint
