April 22, 2010

Earth Day Redux

"The Earth is wise. It has given itself into the keeping of all, and all are therefore accountable for it."
- Alice Walker

One year ago, we were offered the opportunity to help the paper company Appleton Coated publish a practical guide on how to practice sustainability when developing print communications.

Published on Earth Day 2009, The Green Outlook opened our eyes – and our business – to changes we could make and conversations we could have with our clients about moving towards more sustainable communications.

Fast forward to Earth Day 2010: How has Resonance contributed to the green conversation in the last 12 months? What more can we do? How can you join us?

For starters, 99.5% of our print projects are now on FSC-certified paper. So the paper we used on almost every project was tracked from the forest where it was harvested through the final print process to assure that it originated in eco-friendly practices. Our specifications are also for paper manufactured in the U.S., meaning the footprint eliminates overseas transportation.

We’re now using alternative energy, too, on 75% of our client publications. This helped us save an estimated 60 trees and 20,000 gallons of water along with a reduction of 18,000 lbs of CO2 emissions – just from Resonance clients in the last year alone! And the cost different to use these energy sources is minimal, with very little upcharge. For instance, a print run of 2,500 brochures will likely have added charges of just a few hundred dollars – a very small percentage of the overall creative and printing costs.

We’re committed to even more environmentally sound options:

• We're paying more attention to optimal use of press sheets. For instance, evaluating self cover options to save the additional run of a cover sheet saves not just paper, but also printer plates, energy and ink from additional press time.

• We're increasingly opting for digital printing where it makes sense, not just because these print runs are smaller, but also to save printer plates, paper and ink.

As we help our clients adopt these practices, they join the growing list of organizations that understand that the status quo is changing. Consumers are becoming more engaged in the environmental conversation and our clients are finding benefits from promoting their stewardship.

Sharing these developments isn’t intended to be an exercise in self-congratulation. Rather, we’ve come to recognize that the individual change all of us bring about, one project at a time, is the way towards a more sustainable future.

And when we see that the small steps that Resonance takes are multiplied by thousands of other marketing firms also taking steps forward, we can see that real change is happening.

Onward!