Resources such as wood, energy and water are used for both production of paper and printing. Not only this but many hazardous materials are used for the production of ink, dyers, lacquers, varnishes which are all used in printing. It is obvious that printing is dangerous for our environment and that something has to be changed. That is why today we have green printing. Green printing uses waste recycled-content papers, those produced without the use of chlorine as, inks which are based on vegetables as well as products that are made with renewable energy. Be sure to check out the following text and think about switching to green printing.
How do the Green Printers Actually Work?
Before you consider switching to green printing you should become familiar with the whole process. As mention above, green printing uses papers which are made out of recycled materials as well as printing chemicals which are not hazardous for our environment. This means no toxic chemicals, waste ink and solvents. There are actually several different types of green printing. There is digital printing which uses plate-free technology. With this type of printing the ink is not absorbed into the paper but rather sits on top of it. It is popular as it is one of the fastest ways of green printing. There are also offset printing which uses oils and water as well as spot color printingwhich uses many different color variations, starting from basic to metallic and fluorescent.
What Paper to Use
The paper which is most commonly used in printing is the recycled one. It saves trees from being cut, requires less energy and by far less toxic chemicals. Such paper is made out of post-consumer waste, and thus requires minimal amount of wood, water and energy. You can even find the most environmental-friendly papers which are made 100% out of recycled material. Some papers are even made out of plants such as cotton, kenaf, soybean and wheat. Still, such papers can be quite expensive and are usually imported. A paper that is made by using renewable energy is also preferable when green printing. If you compare this to the production of regular paper where 3 tons of wood and 19k gallons of water for the production of 1 ton of paper, you can see why green printing is so encouraged.
Eco Friendly Inks
Many different chemicals are used in regular printing. Lead, silver, chloroform, toluene are just some of those which are highly toxic. To make things even worse, scientists consider chlorine bleaching of paper to be related to some cancer causing water pollutants. So if you switch to green printing you will be using inks which are more environment-friendly and do not pose any threats. You can consider using a toner cartridge which uses by far less energy than laser ones. Not only this but these actually cost much less, so you will save some money while helping out the environment.
Any effort you put in saving the environment is more than welcome. Green printing is something that should be highly encouraged if we do not want to pose some serious threats to our planet. So the next time you have to print something, try finding a place that encourages green printing. If you own a printer be sure to get cartridges which are eco-friendly. And if you are a manufacturer, switching to this type of printing would be a massive step in saving our environment. Green printing is a way to preserve the nature and each person switching to it is a step forward.
