In Defense of Print

em>Our Guest Columnist for today’s Print Tip is Mary Ann Fong, the Assistant Director of Creative Services for Temple University in Philadelphia. Mary Ann has 25+ years of experience in the printing industry, from customer service to production management to print sales. She spearheads sustainable print initiatives at Temple and encourages industry peers to adopt responsible print production practices within their own organizations. Mary Ann serves on the Board of Directors of the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP).

Mary Ann Fong

In Defense of Print
By Guest Columnist Mary Ann Fong

Think before you print. Seems reasonable, right? We all applaud thinking—and conservation.

Why, then, have basic conservation tenets escalated into a widespread belief that “Print kills trees”? And, if you buy into that assertion, isn’t it a logical extension that electronic communication is the equivalent of saving trees? Most of us in the printing industry realize the fallacy in this line of thinking, but we’ve also seen the tremendous momentum these myths have gained, even among well-meaning sustainability proponents.

Last November, Derek Smith (PaperLeadership.com) hosted a panel discussion in Washington, DC, entitled “In Defense of U.S. Paper and Print.” The purpose of the discussion was to debunk the “paper kills trees” myth and provide substantive data to the contrary.

Six industry leaders presented compelling data supporting the fact that the US paper and print industry drive the growth of forests in the United States today that furnish critical animal habitat and oxygen-providing green canopy for the atmosphere. They likened not using paper to save trees to not eating salad in order to save vegetables.

Teri Shanahan from International Paper shared some very interesting statistics about the percentage of harvested wood that is used to make paper — only 11%! It was even more amazing to learn that 53% of the wood harvested from the world’s forests is still used to generate energy, and the lumber industry uses 28%. She also reminded us that when working forests cannot make money, landowners are forced to sell or put their land to other uses.

Larry Montague from TAPPI pointed out that since 1990, paper manufacturers have reduced their energy consumption per ton of paper by 27%. In addition, the paper industry is the leading generator and user of renewable energy, producing over 28.5 million megawatt hours annually, enough to power nearly 3 million homes.

Two sustainability directors, Jeff Walter (HP) and David Wallace (xpedx) talked about the sustainability goals of their respective companies and how sustainable leadership can help increase availability of sustainable products in the market.

Gary Jones from PIA talked about the relevance of print in communication today. Not only are online sales increased significantly by the presence of a printed catalyst, print is an important component of marketing campaigns that reach consumers through multiple channels.

Phil Riebel explained the mission of Two Sides—to help people gain a better understanding of why print on paper remains a versatile and sustainable communications medium. He believes there really are two sides to every debate, and that paper has a great environmental story to tell.

The panel was well spoken and informative. The only problem was that the speakers were preaching to the choir—the audience was comprised of industry folks like us who understand the environmental impacts of paper. It’s time for this message to be shared with the larger population, and each of us can help dispel these myths. Avoiding print does absolutely nothing to save the planet or forests. Respond to those “Think before you print” messages at the end of emails with facts and information sources. Hopefully, as we begin to look more realistically at the environmental impact of all communication channels, the “print kills trees” stigma will fade.

© 2012 Mary Ann Fong. All rights reserved. You’re free to forward this email. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.