Greengaged

Did you know that recycling one tonne of paper can save 7000 gallons of water, 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4000kw of energy!? On Friday afternoon, non profit enterprise Three Trees Don’t Make a Forest held a three hour sustainable print and paper workshop to explore how different print processes affect recyclability, and how you can reduce the impact through the design process.

The Three Trees, Sophie Thomas (thomas.matthews), Nat Hunter (Airside) and Caroline Clark (Lovely as a Tree) were joined by top sustainable print gurus and business leaders Richard Owers from Beacon Press, Sion Whellens from Calverts Co-op and the immensely knowledgeable Jan Kaiper from Paperback, the recycled paper suppliers.

Sophie introduced the workshop with a discussion about the design brief. She explained the need for designers to consider their ‘Sphere of Influence’ - to be aware of the wider impacts of their work; where the materials will comes from, the life-cycle of the piece, where it will end up, and how many people it will reach. When you receive a brief, she explained, question whether the solution really is a piece of print? Sophie explained how, when Friends of the Earth approach her company thomas.matthews and asked them to design posters for ‘No Shop Day’, they re-thought the original print brief and instead created the incredible No Shop store. The result was vastly more innovative, was environmentally sound and had a much greater impact for the client.

“If you have to, or you do decide that print is the best option” she continued, "then it is time to approach your paper supplier and find out all you need to know about the selection on offer." With that, Sophie introduced Jan Kuiper of Paperback.

In 1983 Kuiper, an ex-environmentalist turned paper distributer, set up Paperback, the first FSC certified merchant, with an objective to close the paper-recycling loop. Kuiper discussed the environmental impacts of paper stating that “Deforestation is responsible for ¾ of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions, making the country the fourth largest climate polluter in the world.” Continuing his presentation, Kuiper went on to detail information about the eco-labeling of paper, the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) and the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Council). Discussing how the pulp and paper process uses enormous amounts of energy and resources, he described that there is a five stage process to making paper, which needs to be analysed.

1. Forestry
2. Pulp manufacture
3. Paper making
4. Finishing (cutting, coating..)
5. Design and print.

After a cup of tea and a look through the paper samples, Richard Owers of Beacon Press took to the stand and, contextualising the discussion, explained that the carbon footprint of a printed piece of work is 60-70% related to the paper. Recognising the designers negative perception that ‘helping to save the environment’ means using recycled paper that is “ugly and of bad quality”, Richard explained that ‘You do not need to compromise on cost or quality to save the environment.’

Sophie concluded the workshop commenting, “I can imagine that designers think ‘oh god, there’s nothing left but to have a piece of blank recycled paper, with a single fold and no ink; where’s the fun gone!?’ Well, for me, that’s the challenge – what can I do with what I’ve got?”

For more information about how to make your print design more environmentally sound, visit Lovely as a Tree, and for information about the three trees collective, visit Three Trees Don’t Make a Forest. More photographs from the workshop here.