Well, you’d think with all the green hype in Denver that you could rent a hybrid easily. We are trying to rent a hybrid for a trip to California, but after calling numerous different rental companies, I’m finding this is no easy task. Enterprise says they have a few in their fleet, but cannot guarantee a hybrid when making a reservation - so it’s the luck of the draw. The same goes with Hertz - they do have a limited number Toyota Prius hybrids in their rental fleet, but you cannot reserve them specifically, you just have to be lucky enough that they have one when you arrive for pickup. Alamo also cannot guarantee. Avis doesn’t even have any in their fleet, their representative said that is is due to the high demand of hybrids and they are hard to order in bulk, as there are just not enough to go around.

So does anyone else know of a rental company that can guarantee a hybrid rental in the Denver area? I’m amazed that this is not available - especially with today’s gas prices. Maybe that’s why - too much demand, not enough to go around! Hopefully this will change in the near future - I expect that soon a large portion of rental fleets will be hybrids. The savings on time and money – not to mention air pollution – of renting a hybrid seems to be a no-brainer.

Clover is good for lawns. Really. It is considered by some to be a weed, but the reality is that clover is good for the soil as it’s roots slowly release nitrogen. If you’ve seen a lawn with clover patches in it, you’ll notice that the grass is always greener near the clover.

So don’t think of clover as a weed – consider it the perfect lawn addition. Green, drought-tolerant and pest-free, a clover filled lawn will require less cutting, little watering and no feeding, unlike traditional turf. This means less work and fewer chemicals that can harm the environment.

A word of warning about weed killers (herbicides) including those from Scotts, Ortho, RoundUp and others – they kill clover, flowers, vegetables, and even can harm trees – they are not selective in their destruction. Herbicides are popular because they work well at the outset. They do the job and kill target plants. However, they can also kill and maim non-target plants and animals, and can have undesirable long-term impacts on the environment. So it’s not a good idea in the long run – I dig out dandelions before they go to seed, and that seems to do the trick just fine. Don’t forget, it’s a good workout, too!

	Photo source: Exit East Coast

Below is an article from the Rocky Mountain News - apparently we have the least air pollution, at least in comparison to other areas such as Los Angeles. I’m glad that we’re not as bad as LA yet, although that isn’t saying much. Hopefully people will start driving less (ride bikes or walk), start carpooling, and driving smaller, more efficient cars. Of course, automobiles are not the only contributor to the air pollution – other sources include coal power plants, and even residential wood smoke from fireplaces and wood stoves.

The good news is - according to the article: "Nationwide, ozone and particulates declined since 2000." Does that mean it blew into Canada?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colorado soars in air rankings

Originally published on May 1, 2008
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
Read full article: Click Here

Several Colorado cities and counties are among places with the least air pollution, the American Lung Association reported today.

Colorado Springs, Fort Collins (including Loveland) and Pueblo made lists of the lowest polluting cities in particulates and ozone.

Counties that made one or more of the lists for the least of those pollutants include Boulder, Delta, El Paso, Elbert, Gunnison, Montezuma, La Plata, Larimer, Pueblo and San Miguel.

No Colorado city or county made the lists of 25 most polluted areas.

Los Angeles and Pittsburgh topped the lists.

The report was compiled from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data for 2004 through 2006.

Within Colorado, Denver had the highest level of particulates. But Denver’s average, based on the number of incidents, was 3.7 — far below catagory-leader Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) with an average of 62.

Jefferson County had Colorado’s worst ozone problem. But Jeffco’s average was 2.7 — small potatoes compared to the 90.3 average racked up by San Bernardino County, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Nationwide, ozone and particulates declined since 2000.

I use rechargeable batteries in all my appliances. Who wants to throw away battery after battery? I use NiMH rechargeable batteries in our wall clocks, my wireless keyboard, our digital cameras, and any other battery powered electronics. I find it strange that disposable batteries are still so popular and have the widest selection, while the rechargeable selection is limited, and it’s difficult to find rechargeable C and D batteries and chargers in many stores. I figured everyone would like to save money and the hassle of buying new batteries all the time. You use a rechargeable battery for years whereas you use a disposable battery only once. So over the years (and with millions of other people doing the same), using disposable batteries equals a LOT of batteries in the landfill.

Ni-Cads or nickel cadmium provide adequate energy however; the disposal is more hazardous to the environment because of toxic metals. The best rechargeable batteries are (NiMH) or nickel metal hydride. They perform well and are less toxic to the environment. Rechargeable NIMH are actually better than Alkaline disposables for high drain applications such as in digital cameras, as they last much longer on a single charge and don’t have to be discarded after a single use.

Rechargeable batteries will save money: According to Real Goods, throwaway batteries cost $0.10 per hour to operate, if you figure in energy and replacement costs. In contrast, rechargeable batteries cost only $0.001 per hour. Real Goods recommends nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeables, which contain no toxic metals, unlike rechargeable alkalines, and offer almost twice the capacity per cell compared to nicad rechargeables.

Go one step further to encourage the green energy future and buy a solar battery charger. Except — I have yet to find a good one that stops charging when the batteries are full, or switches to a trickle charge. I don’t want to accidently overcharge my batteries. Anyone know of any?

Here a good (plug-in) universal charger and conditioner that I use for several battery types: Visit GreenBatteries.com

This site also sells rechargeable batteries if there are sizes you are having a hard time finding.

A couple other tips:

Keep charged batteries charged while storing: NiMH and Nicad batteries start to lose power when stored for only a few days at room temperature. But they will retain a 90% charge for several months if you keep them in the freezer after they are fully charged. Store your charged NiMH cells in the freezer or refrigerator and keep them in tightly sealed bags so they stay dry. Let them return to room temperature before using them.

NiMH Rechargeable Battery Disposal: NiMH batteries are 100% recyclable and use no toxic materials (lead, cadmium, or lithium), making them the only rechargeable battery that can be legally disposed of in a landfill. However — it is still recommended to recycled them - check out this website for battery recycling in your area: hhttp://www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/dropoff/index.php

I’ve pulled an excerpt of what is recommended when buying rechargeable batteries and their chargers.

Rechargeable Batteries: What to Do, in Brief
Source: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPW/Power/RechBattInfo.htm#mAhExample

If you want to cut to the chase and keep it simple, then do these three things:

1. Buy a battery charger that has these five features (In order of importance.):

(a) Charges NiMH batteries, or better still, charges both NiMH batteries and NiCd batteries. Almost all chargers sold today charge NiMH batteries, but check to make sure, especially if you are buying a used charger. All chargers designed to charge NiMH batteries are perfectly compatible with the new LSD NiMH batteries, described in the introduction.

(b) Has an optional discharge cycle, more commonly called a reconditioning cycle. For reasons why, see #3 below.

(c) Switches to a trickle charge or shuts off or automatically after the batteries are charged. This prevents you from over cooking your batteries and dramatically shortening their life.

(d) Charges each battery individually. Many chargers only charge batteries in pairs. That works OK if you use batteries only in pairs. But wall clocks and some remote controls use only one battery. Some flashlights use one, three, or five batteries. Additionally, you will find in time that supposedly identical rechargeable batteries differ slightly in their capacity. Allowing each battery to recondition and recharge individually assures that each battery will last as long as it can. More importantly, if a rechargeable battery goes bad, and if your charger charges each battery individually, it can tell you precisely which battery is the bad one.

(e) Automatically switches from recondition mode to recharge mode, without requiring you to go to the charger to flip a switch half-way through the process. This is a tremendous convenience. Without this feature you will find yourself either repeatedly going to the charger to see when you can start the charging process, or you will forget to switch to the charging process and not have charged batteries when you want them. Worse still, you may get frustrated by the reconditioning cycle, stop reconditioning your batteries, and thus shorten the life of your batteries.

The web has opened up a large selection of new paperless marketing methods that not only save trees and resources, they also save you money! It costs anywhere from 40 cents to several dollars to physically mail out printed pieces to your client - and most likely it will end up in the trash (or, ideally, in the recycle bin). Today, more than ever, businesses have the ability to send out beautiful email marketing pieces that never waste one sheet of paper — and cost less than a penny per customer to send.

Email Newsletters have become a mainstream way for companies to advertise their products, events and news. Email clubs have become popular with customers, who love to sign up with their favorite stores and restaurants so that they can get exclusive “member only” discounts and invites to special events. Email Newsletter software has also come a long way — businesses can now track to see how many people opened their emails, what they clicked on, and can even test to see what email Subjects perform best (such as “Free Wine Tasting Tonight” versus “Wine Tasting Tonight”).

IJDesign offers full service email marketing so that you can collect members on your website through simple signup forms, and then send them colorful, designed emails that will get their attention and drive traffic to your website or store/restaurant. Contact Idelle at 720.260.3541 to discuss email newsletter marketing.

Written by: Idelle Fisher

Compare a small neighborhood grocery shop to a grocery store chain such as Safeway. The products at Safeway are likely going to be more expensive than your neighborhood shop’s. Same goes for recycled paper products. Right now the recycled paper “store” is pretty small - there is not a huge demand for it. But if we all – designers, business owners and individuals – start purchasing recycled products, then the demand will rise, likely bringing the costs down due to ability to purchase in bulk.

I find that, as a Graphic Designer in Denver, the demand for recycled products is fairly low (though on the rise), so when I ask local printers for specialty papers such as New Leaf, they often come back with much more expensive pricing than on their standard stocks, or, they recommend that we not use it, as the print job is not large enough to justify the minimum order of a full palette of the New Leaf paper. It seems that printers don’t seem to desire having recycled paper stocks on hand. Most printers stock a couple of standard papers that they use most often and recommend to clients – the problem is, in Denver, it is hard to find printers that actually recommend and regularly use recycled papers, plus offer the recycled papers with the bulk-rate costs of their current recommended stocks. I also find that when I ask printers to recommend a recycled stock, they often offer stocks that are 10% recycled – and it’s not even post-consumer content.

As a Graphic Designer, I now recommend 30% post consumer or higher recycled papers to my clients. A few recent projects that have gone on great recycled stocks include a small direct mailing Booklet for mocaPay (left), which was printed by Lange Graphics on New Leaf’s Sakura 100 paper, it came out beautifully. The 8 page booklet had over 100 cash offers to members who used mocaPay to pay for their orders with their cell phones. On the piece, we included a tiny Recycled symbol with the text, “Printed on 100% Recycled Post-Consumer Paper. Please Recycle.” Additionally, Camille DeRose at Lange is great to work with, all my projects we work on together are of very high quality, and she even proofs the projects I work on and brings up any concerns (even - gasp - typos!) to help ensure the finished product is at it’s very best. And from an environmental point of view, fixing any errors BEFORE printing 40,000 pieces is absolutely critical.

Hopefully, if all of us pitch in and request for recycled paper today, tomorrow will bring us the better pricing. Cost aside, the real reason to use recycled products is to do our part to help conserve our planet. The energy savings for recycling paper is significant – it uses about 60% less energy than making paper from new materials. According to The Department of Energy, one ton of paper made from recycled fibers conserves up to 31 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 4,000 KWh of electricity and up to 60 pounds of air pollutants, not including carbon dioxide. That’s a huge difference. So why is it more expensive? I suspect it is because we don’t purchase enough of it to bring the costs down.

Of course, I also recommend printing less. Consider alternative paper-free methods of advertising, such as email newsletters, websites and text messaging promotions. Junk mail is widely accepted as a nuisance that people often times throw away before opening. Hopefully they’re recycling. If we can find better electronic ways to market to our customers, not only will it save trees and our environment, it will also save us money on postage and printing.

Learn more about recycled paper, and other paper terms, click here.

I offer website design, email newsletter design and management, and other online marketing methods, including SEO (Search Engine Marketing). Call Idelle today at 720.260.3541.

Boulder-based environmental film company Oceanic Preservation Society
Press Release from Bella Energy
February 4, 2008, Fort Collins, CO

Boulder, CO. Bella Energy, a Boulder based solar energy company that installs and maintains solar energy systems in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Region, has installed a 22.8 kilowatt solar system on Oceanic Preservation Society’s Boulder film production studio.

It was an honor for Bella Energy to work with such an organization. The world will be a better place for their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and because of the effects of their powerful film!” said John Shaw of Bella Energy.

Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) is a non-profit organization that makes films about the declining state of the oceans, founded by Boulder residents Louie Psihoyos, a career National Geographic photographer, and his retired-ballerina wife Viki Psihoyos. Louie was the main contributor to the “Material World Project”, a U.N. sponsored show of family portraits depicting 40 families from different countries with their material possessions.

Louie Psihoyos knows that renewable energy production is the best way for an individual citizen to reduce the country’s dependency on polluting coal plants. He has made a personal commitment to use solar electricity to lower his carbon footprint not only for his studio but also his car, a Zenn electric car. “We are doing what we can here,” says Louis Psihoyos. “Our OPS film team uses a dozen monitors, editing machines and tons of RAD for data storage. The place literally throbs with electricity.”

Scientists are studying a connection between increasing CO2 levels and mercury content in the oceans and in our seafood, which can cause neurological and heart problems. The highest concentrations of mercury are found in larger predator fish, so high that experts warn women who are pregnant or breast-feeding and children not to eat such fish as fresh tuna, Chilean sea bass, swordfish, shark or grouper. Alarmingly, seafood provides 70 percent of the planet’s protein.

“Since our upcoming film points out the connection between increasing levels of CO2 in the air and mercury levels rising 2% a year in the oceans, we tried to lower our own personal carbon footprint and set an example to others,” says Viki Psihoyos. “We are practicing what we preach.”

The 22.8 kilowatt solar system, with both south and east facing panels:

• cost about $175,000
• received a $45,600 Xcel Energy Solar Rewards rebate, with Renewable Energy Credits collected at an estimated $3,335 annually for 20 years
• will fix the company’s electricity rates when rates are rising at 3-7% per year, saving about $3,000 per year
• will prevent 29 tons of CO2 emissions per year
• will produce an estimated 90% of their film studio’s energy
• will pay for itself in about 10 years

It was an honor for Bella Energy to work with such an organization. The world will be a better place for their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and because of the effects of their powerful film!” said John Shaw of Bella Energy.

The grocery chain Whole Foods just announced that its 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom will stop handing out plastic bags on Earth Day, April 22, 2008. San Francisco, Bangladesh, Ireland, Italy, China and Taiwan (among others) have already banned or are taking steps to significantly reduce the use of plastic bags in grocery stores. The advocacy group Better Bags Colorado has requested that Denver considers passing similar legislation.

Should Denver retailers charge for or ban plastic grocery sacks?
Click Here to Voice your Opinion

So what do you carry your groceries with?
Reusable canvas or cloth bags, or you can reuse the plastic bags that you already have. Grocery stores now have recycling bins that you can throw away your torn or unusable plastics (such as case wrap and grocery bags). Bonus: Grocery stores also give you 5-10 cents per bag that you bring in (whether canvas or plastic).

State’s abundant sun, wind, research hubs pull renewable energy businesses from around globe

Saturday, January 26, 2008
Article Source: Rocky Mountain News

One year ago, the governor set out to make Colorado the renewable-energy capital of the world.

“Let’s start by being bolder than any other state when it comes to renewable energy,” Gov. Bill Ritter said in his inaugural speech on the west steps of the state Capitol. “Let’s commit right now to making Colorado a national leader . . . a world leader . . . in renewable energy. Let’s create a ‘New Energy Economy’ right here in Colorado.”

This “New Energy Economy” called for harnessing the sun, wind, and plant and animal waste. And more important, all the energies can be found on the state’s soil.

But does Colorado have the financial muscle or the cheap labor to compete with Texas, Ohio or Michigan to draw renewable-energy investment?

Over the past year, bigwigs and startups - from London to Spain to Denmark - flocked to Colorado, betting the state is undergoing a seismic shift in the way it develops energy for the future.

“There has been a sea change in Colorado,” said Ken May, a graying former scientist at NREL who now is division director at Abengoa Solar, a subsidiary of Seville, Spain-based Abengoa. “It’s been pretty incredible.”

Abengoa Solar, with U.S. headquarters in Lakewood, plans to triple its size in the next year. London-based Camco International wants to work on local projects to develop and aggregate carbon credits. And Danish company Vestas is putting the finishing touches on its first U.S. wind turbine plant in Windsor.

Clearly, investor interest is on the rise.

A Spanish delegation comprising about a dozen wind and solar companies is visiting Feb. 12 through 14 to check out Colorado’s renewable-energy portfolio. Executives from Iberdola and Abengoa will spend an entire day at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

Spanish companies plan to spend $7 billion to $10 billion in the United States on renewable- energy projects over the next few years, said Paul Bergman of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Denver, which is organizing the delegation’s visit next month.

Even local companies Ascent Solar, AVA Solar, PrimeStar Solar and Sunflower Solar are poised to become important players. FPL Energy, a subsidiary of Florida Power & Light, is scouting for office space in and around Denver and plans to hire about a dozen employees this year.

Scientific prowess

Colorado’s advantages are obvious: 300 days of sunshine in a year, strong winds sweeping the eastern plains and plenty of biomass, or plant and animal waste.

It has the political will, evidenced by voters approving that a portion of their electricity should come from renewable resources. That Colorado can boast of NREL, a formidable force in renewable-energy research, is its “jewel in the crown,” Bergman said.

Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado not only add to the scientific prowess but also catapult the spinoffs and startups to commercial success.

But can the state translate those advantages into a tangible success at drawing renewable-energy investments?

Denver has an inherent drawback in that it competes with “megapolitans” such as Silicon Valley in California; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, which have banded together to attract investors.

Moreover, Colorado can’t offer financial incentives like Texas’ or Ohio’s to attract undercapitalized startups.

“Our biggest challenge is other states that do not have the wealth of resources, that do not have a lot of sunshine or wind, have financial resources to draw fledgling startups that we don’t have,” said Tom Clark, executive director of Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

“We have to understand renewable energy is a big opportunity for Colorado. We have to compete with other states. And we have to up the stakes in a bidding war.”

State takes action

Colorado’s frenzied focus on renewable energy has taken scientists and supporters, long disappointed by the federal government’s years of neglect, by surprise, especially since NREL has been around for about 30 years, and wind, solar and biomass technologies have existed even longer.

Colorado’s biggest change, most observers say, has been its policy makeovers in past years. Voters forcing utilities to obtain a portion of their electricity from solar, wind or biomass has created an instant market for the fledgling industry, ensuring companies ready buyers for their products.

World-class institutions such as NREL, Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CSU in Fort Collins and CU in Boulder are pioneering cutting-edge research, intent on lowering the cost of renewable-energy technologies. They serve as magnets for startups needing help upfront with research and finance.

Most important, Ritter has been an ardent fan.

Important stimulus

“The governor’s visibility on the issue has driven some of the (investment) decisions,” Clark said.

One of the first bills Ritter signed doubled Colorado’s goal for renewable energy, requiring utilities to get at least 20 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. He signed another bill that allows utilities to propose transmission lines and recover those investments from electric ratepayers fairly expeditiously.

Meanwhile, Xcel Energy - Colorado’s biggest utility, which serves 1.7 million gas and electric customers - has been expanding wind and solar farms since voters passed Amendment 37, the original renewable-energy goal, in November 2005. That Xcel CEO Dick Kelly wants the company to become a green utility helps.

Ritter has appointed renewable-energy proponents Ron Binz and Matt Baker to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, an agency charged with approving power projects to keep pace with the state’s energy demand.

Another important stimulus, some say, came from Congress last year when it approved a $100 million infusion for NREL, reversing years of budget cuts and layoffs.

Before then, the lab was languishing on the back burner. In an article from Jan 25, 2007, The New York Times wrote:

“Thirty years after it was founded by President Jimmy Carter, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at the edge of the Rockies here still does not have a cafeteria.

“Evaporation chambers for new solar energy systems look like they belong in an H.G. Wells movie. Technicians had to knock out a giant door from a testing facility to fit modern wind turbine blades, which now stick out like a bare toe from an old sock.”

That was a far cry from today, as NREL hires scores of scientists and builds multimillion-dollar facilities to advance research. The lab’s budget jumped 50 percent to $309.6 million last year and will be higher this year.

NREL still doesn’t have a cafeteria.

Skilled labor scarce

But dark clouds are hovering over Colorado’s renewable-energy future.

Companies say the availability of a qualified work force is a big concern. For example, Vestas wants to double its wind turbine plant in Windsor. That means it would need to employ about 650 skilled workers - an issue that company executives discussed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

“The challenge is that we still have a low unemployment rate here, say, compared with Michigan,” said Jim Reis of the World Trade Center in Denver.

Moreover, Colorado is not a union state, so labor is comparatively less expensive here. So nonunion labor could be a draw for foreign investors, Reis said.

“The Japanese investors wouldn’t touch Michigan with a 10-foot pole,” Reis said. “We have the advantage, but that’s not the only factor.”

The fact that Colorado needs to nurture a viable work force to attract renewable companies is gaining traction among state officials.

David Griffin of the Department of Labor and Employment said his agency is working with companies to train people required at wind or solar farms.

Colorado could find it hard to compete with richer states such as Ohio and Texas that can offer huge financial incentives to draw companies. Those incentives are crucial for startups that need help upfront but may not be a big lure for mature companies.

Moreover, Colorado also doesn’t offer much of a presence outside the U.S., except for a lone trade office in Mexico. That could become an issue if one considers that foreign companies, especially in Europe, have made big leaps in the invention and marketing of renewable energy and related products in past years.

Denver’s biggest hurdle is that it is competing against other megapolitan areas, Clark said.

Megapolitans such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Atlanta, or the Interstate 35 corridor stretching from Texas through St. Louis., or even Arizona with Southern California can combine their financial and infrastructure resources to attract and retain investors.

“The challenge for us is that major metro regions in the United States are getting together,” Clark said. “Denver is by itself; we cannot create a megapolitan area with Casper or Pueblo.

“The big challenge is to realize the vital importance of the Denver International Airport as our premier asset for competing in the global economy, and attention needs to be turned toward its expansion.”

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

Source: http://www.green.net.au/srd/#green

Here are many ideas to consider that can reduce your environmental impact and achieve better practice.

• Strive to create the greatest visual impact with the least environmental impact. Achieving clients needs while limiting potential ecological damage

• Encourage their clients to consider the environmental impact of their production. Educated clients are more willing to undertake ecologically sound projects

• Consider the use of tree free paper stock such as sugar cane waste, straw, seaweed, algae and hemp. Alternative renewable paper sources can reduce need for wood pulp from old growth forests

• Consider the use of Recycled paper stock with a high Post Consumer Fibre (PCF) recycled content. Clean mill waste has always been recycled so it is better to keep consumer paper out of landfill

• Consider the use of recycled paper stock that has not been de-inked. De-inking is a energy expensive process which still results in toxic waste ink

• Consider the use of unbleached or non chlorine bleached paper stock. Bleached paper requires the use of toxins which are harmful to marine and water based life

• Consider the use of vegetable based printing inks such as soy inks. Vegetable based inks are renewable and emit less toxic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

• Avoid the use of ink colours which contain high levels of heavy metals such as copper, chrome, etc.. Many bright colours contain heavy metals which leach into ground water when landfilled

• Avoid overuse of gloss paper stock, because more exists than can be de-inked and recycled. In some areas there is a glut of gloss paper because satin or matt paper is used less

• Avoid overuse of plastic films, foil stampings, metallic colours and synthetic adhesives. Some synthetics have a life of 200-500 years after they have been disposed of in landfills

• Avoid over use of perfect bound or spiral bound spines as they are difficult to recycle. The glues and metals in such binding impede cost effective recycling

• Avoid ‘bleeds’ that are then trimmed and must be de-inked before recycling. Ink extended beyond trim marks requires more intensive recycling than ink within trim marks

• Consider the smallest paper size suitable for each job, ie A5 instead of A4. Less paper used means less energy expended and should also be cheaper for client

• Use paper sizes and number of pages that best fit standard sheet stocks without wasteful trimming. Printers can advise on best use of sheet stock for less paper wastage and more price savings

• Use the least amount of ink colours for the job, ie 2 colour output instead of 4 colour. The greater the number of inks the more cleaning fluids required for the presses = greater cost

• Avoid using too much ink in their designs. More ink means more difficult de-inking or greater toxic residue leaching into groundwater

• Consider using filmless and plateless digital printing technology for small run jobs. Modern printing technology can reduce amount of plastics, metals and inks used for printing

• Use computer equipment which has energy saver features. Energy saver equipment shuts down when not is use saving burden on non-renewable fossil fuels

• Use the back side of other sheets to proof their work from inkjet printers. Increases by double the life span of office paper. Be careful with lasers as toner can adhere to the drum.

• Avoid overpackaging, ie postcard for mailing instead of envelope and letter. Follows credo of REDUCE, avoids unnecessary paper waste and expense

• Use the recycled logo or other devices to promote the recycled nature of their production. Customers and Users need to have the opportunity to know they are purchasing recycled goods

• Promote design responsibility by printing PCW content, ink and bleaching type on their work. Customers & Users educated by one product will look for the same credentials in other other products

• Specify that the windows on business envelopes be of recyclable cellulosic content. Cellulose based windows can be recycled as paper or easily composted, plastic cannot

• Keep informed of the latest environmental developments in inks, papers and printing processes. New technologies and rediscoveries of old techniques for green design are occurring constantly
  

(To implement all the above ideas may be impossible - yet every suggestion adopted will make a difference.)