Behind every piece of printed communication is the environmental story of its creation.
This story is written from the myriad decisions made along the way that influence the use of natural resources, chemical compounds, energy and other elements. Such as: How many must we print? Do we add pages so we can add white space? Do we go with the highly affordable imported paper? Or the eco-responsible domestic sheet?
Design and marketing professionals tasked with these decisions often find themselves in a bewildering world. They’re constrained by budgets, beholden to the wishes and whims of company or client, flooded with information telling them How To Be Green. To shepherd them through this world, they often look to their paper and printing partners.
Appleton Coated is one such shepherd. But the Wisconsin-based manufacturer of coated papers did not wish to produce yet another copy-dense how-to.
So they asked Resonance to help create a resource that 1) simplifies some of the complexities of print communication decision-making; and 2) provides the very latest information on the corporate sustainability context in which these decisions are made.
Our result was The Green Outlook, a 16-page guide published in 2009 that distilled printmaking processes and practices down to their essence, as well as offered a snapshot of current trends and indicators about eco-friendly communication.
The guide opened by inviting the reader to mentally plot his or her place on the sustainability spectrum, from Absent to Aspiring to Active to Ambitious. The message: No matter where you are, it’s important that you’re making the journey.
As for practical and pragmatic content, the guide provided:
- Opening line “ice breakers” to start a conversation (with clients or within a company) about deepening the commitment to environmentally friendly communication;
- A compilation of major findings from the most recent research reports and studies on corporate sustainability; and
- A series of talking points, each backed with key facts, to explain the fundamentals of eco-friendly print communications.
On Earth Day 2009, Appleton Coated began rolling out The Green Outlook by sending representatives to meet with design and marketing professionals at companies and agencies across the U.S. In the weeks that followed, the company also created an interactive version of the report.
