Thanks to new technological developments in the printing industry, there are many earth-friendly options available for those who “think green” regardless of what colour of ink they’re using.
Most business still find print materials incredibly effective for marketing and promotional purposes, despite the fact that some detractors are lamenting print as a dying industry and paperless technology as the way forward. The most frequent criticism seems to be that print is bad for the environment, with the use of paper sacrificing trees and ink producing damaging toxins.
Low Emission, Vegetable-Based Eco Ink
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth for companies that use responsible printing techniques. There are a wealth of eco-friendly printing options on the market today that are safe, sustainable and non-toxic. Furthermore, they’re of brilliant quality and don’t cost any more than purchasing print products made from traditional methods.
Some may think of paper as the only area in which print companies can be kinder to the planet, through the use of recyclable or repurposed materials. Eco ink, however, provides print professionals with another opportunity to think “green.” Where traditional inks were toxic, petroleum or mineral oil-based and harmful to dispose of, eco ink is typically vegetable or soy-based and much kinder to the earth.
Environmentally friendly ink made from vegetable oil or soybeans is produced using sustainable farming methods. Even the way the plants used to make eco ink are grown is helpful to the planet, as they help reduce air pollution by minimising toxic emissions. And because they have such low toxic compounds, they’re safer for the soil and groundwater, too.
The Vibrant, Environmentally-Friendly Option
In days past, environmentally friendly printing often meant sacrificing quality, with less luxurious finishes or diminished colour intensity being the tradeoff for ethics. But that certainly isn’t the case with the latest developments in eco ink. In fact, printers are discovering that vegetable-based ink often produces more vibrant colours than traditional products, and requires less pigment to create the same effects. It’s also less likely to rub off on your hands.
Our Safer, Sustainable Choice
At Solopress, we are proud to use eco ink for all our print materials – not just our remarkable business cards and bold brochures. The cutting edge ink technology we employ ensures stable and simply stunning print for your most demanding and vibrant projects.
Because we use only vegetable-based ink in our print department, keeping the planet in mind doesn’t have to mean making a special request the next time you place an order. You can convey a strong, pro-environmental message by printing with us, and it doesn’t cost extra, either!
We’re pleased to say that our planet-friendly eco ink is safer for our team, too. The volatile emissions from eco ink are often as low as 4%, whereas mineral and petroleum based inks produce emissions at rates of at least 25% to 40%. Far less toxic than the old stuff, our vegetable-based ink is better for the health and safety of those who work with it every day.
So the next time you’re after a poster that pops or business card that makes a statement, remember you can have it all: fantastic print quality, on-budget prices and ethical print media to be proud of. What’s not to love?
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Not all “eco-inks” are recyclable, especially the soy inks create problems, they polymerise when drying and kstick to the fibres. So you have to look carefully into what is “eco” about the ink. There are several certifications around that refer to being compostable or so (like “Cradle2Cradle”, but who comosts his paper after reading? Most of the paper is being recycled, and in order to be environmentally friendly, it should at first be recyclable.
Quite funny here is the link to the next post in this blog, an unreflected advertisement for HP Indigo printers, the worst source of contamination for paper recycling (a plastic foil, a lamination rather than a printing process), leading to severe damages even at low concentrations in the paper for recycling.
It is so refreshing to come across a company that takes environmental issues seriously. If only other companies followed your example.
What a fantastic thing to do – if everyone adopted this then imagine the impact on the environment!
Nice to hear about eco-friendly ink, however i still think the printing industry has to make some efforts on paper waste and other general waste (environmental costs of delivery for example). But it’s going in the good direction so congratulations to solopress!
This is the first time I’ve heard about the veggie printer ink. I will be looking into it though
Interesting article but we do have a few thousand non-green nuclear warheads kicking about……………… don’t we?
Great to hear you are using eco friendly ink. Let’s hope it becomes more widespread given how much printing is done every day. Hopefully we will also end up eventually with green ink that, unlike some print cartridges today, doesn’t cost more than the printer itself!
Thank you – we think it’s absolutely imperative to use both 100% recycled paper and eco ink. Hopefully as technology continues to improve and more people catch on to the idea that eco-friendly is so worthwhile, the costs for consumer based eco-ink products to use in home printers will eventually decrease.
Love to hear about eco friendly printing options. It is brilliant to hear that there are environmentally friendly printing which is safe, sustainable and non-toxic.
thats amazing we all need to get more eco friendly me and my kids made garden flower decorations out of recycled plastic bottles for world ocean day we had great fun!