It’s trendy to be green. Green sells, green makes a good story to the client. Green shows you care. But really, how do you know if your printer is really green? Having been in the backrooms of many an offset printer for about 15 years, I can tell you that there is a HUGE difference in waste between printers. So… So… Some printers know more about saving the environment than Greenpeace. And others should not actually be let within five kilometres of a city’s drinking water. No joke, I know of one company (since gone out of business, thankfully) that used to dump pure ammonia down the public drains. On the sidewalk outside the company, if you walk near a sewers, the fumes from the ammonia were enough to knock you out.

Anyhow, if you want to ensure your printer is really green & not putting you on, ask to go on a plant tour & look for the following:

1. How old is the prepress equipment?

What does the printer use to make plates? Do they use an up-to-date thermal computer-to-plate device or are they still stuck using an imagesetter (which makes film & then plates are exposed from the film). Imagesetter went out of style sometime in the mid-nineteen nineties. As well as giving the pressmen more headaches when trying to register ® ® on the press (leading to more paper wastage), imagesetters need developers & fixers to process the film. Think of your Dad’s old 35mm camera, only in humongous size. That’s an imagesetter. Now think of the chemicals needs to develop all that film. There’s no excuse for a printer to NOT have a CTP device today, unless the printer doesn’t want to put any money in the business, in which case that means the company is polluting like its 1979.

2. Latest & greatest software?

There is a large niche of prepress software out there that is designed to cut down wastage (helping printers save more money & incidentally, helping the environment). Ever heard of CIPS3? Every pressman worth her or his salt has. Clear? It is an little software program that helps the press “run up to color” at the beginning of the press by automatic calibration of the ink keys on a press. Clear? In a large printing plant, it can save dumpsters of paper per day. Even at your local 4 color commercial printer, it’s a big paper saver. Ask your vendor what new & groovy software has been purchased in the last five years. The printer will either be a) Very excited that you are geek (fake it) & will tell the latest & greatest color management tools that have been implemented on the back end or b) Lie. And not lie very convincingly.

3. What’s Going Down the Drain?

Some commercial printers have what’s called processorless plates, or plates that do not need developing before being hung on the press. Other short-run specialists use inkjet presses, which do not use plates at all. In any case, the problem of waste fluids is yet another discussion you should have with your printer. But just remember, if they have nasty stuff in the shop, that doesn’t exactly mean environmental apocalypse is imminent. Lots of developers chemicals can be chemically neutralized before being dumped down the drain. Of course that cost money, so it’s worth enquiring about it.

4. A Decent-Looking Website

Too timid to request a site visit? Hey, just check out the printer’s website. If a printer has made a massive investment in the latest & greatest hardware & software that minimizes the company’s ecological printer, it’s a good bet that they have overhauled the web site to include on line ordering, proofing, & other little tricks that make life easier for the customer (and money for the printer). Really check out the on line proofing capabilities of the website. If you can not view PDF proofs online, that is a red flag.

5. Where is the Printer Getting the Paper?

Three words: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). A printer may not actually be FCS certified (I hear the certification process is a bit of a bear & costly) but a printer can still order FSC certified paper. The term recycled paper is almost meaningless, you would have go back in time to find business card stock & envelopes made of prime old-growth trees grown in a rainforest untouched by man since the beginning of time. But at the very least a printer should be easily able to quote you on FSC paper.?

Last not lot least, keep asking questions & do not actually be intimidated. If a printer has a lousy web site designed by his 15 year old cousin in 2001, that is a bad sign. If they do not want to give you a plant tour because of “safety” reasons, that’s a bad sign. If they brush you off when you ask questions about their equipment, that’s a very bad sign. The print business is very competitive, and there ARE printers who invested a lot of money in “greening” their plant. Make them happy by discovering them.