Recycled paper that is bright white? Is it Greenwash?

We expect the paper used for posters, letterhead, and brochures to be bright white. Chemically de-inking post-consumer paper back into a clean, white premium sheet that customers expect for attractive full-color printing can be a toxic process, one that presents waste disposal challenges.

The best process is one that involves recycling scrap paper into newsprint, which requires far less water, energy, and chemical treatment than recycling into white paper.

So be careful about buying “bright white” recycled paper. Opt instead for Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) Chain-of-Custody Certified paper that comes from well-managed forests.

Capacity to Care is About Not Letting Things Get Rusty

Capacity to Care is our business strategy built around the notion that we need to


dramatically increase the productive use of natural resources. From the time we take from the ground, sea or air until the time we throw it away, wherever away is. It makes not only good environmental sense; but also good business sense to do so. .

Same is true with our talent. Our talents serve no one when they remain idle. Quite the opposite, we get rusty as does idle machinery of industry when it is not in use. .

Capacity of Care is our program of minimizing waste, reusing everything we can and putting our excess capacity to use by granting it to non-profit organizations.

Pepsi Chooses Philantropy Over Super Bowl Ads

According to Fast Company and The Environmental Leader, Pepsi is opting out of Super Bowl ads this year. They are putting their money into grants to charitable causes recommended by their online visitors. Non-profits have suffered through the recession. Hats off to Pepsi!

New Year's Goals

Three Goals for the New Year


1. Eliminate "price" as a barrier to buying our environmentally responsible alternatives to nasty old vinyl banners.

2. Reduce print material waste by 50%

3. Double our Capacity to Care Grants to non-profit organizations and to government agencies that support troop morale.

Confessions of a Radical Industrialist

I have been greatly influenced by Ray C. Anderson founder of Interface Inc. He writes "there is no place called "away" as in "throw away" Sustainability is a goal that works nicely in manufacturing. For me, it is a business decision, not a part of my political agenda. We should be conscience of what we take from the earth, what we use to make our products, and what we waste in the process.
Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose--Doing Business by Respecting the Earth

Happy New Year ..

In 2009 Few Customers Were Willing to Shell Out Extra Green!

It's New Year's Eve. Looking back on 2009. few customers were willing to shell out the extra green for “green products.”  At least not like I thought they would!

Perhaps they thought we were lining our pockets with green if they paid a premium to do the right thing.  Naw, I don't think that's the case. They simply needed Big, Bold, and Beautiful Color! They weren't out to save the planet! They were out to save their budgets!

Things will be different next year! By golly!  We are going to get lean and offer customers eco-friendly products at the same price as old nasty vinyl!  Every last one of the very best .. even if we have to grow the cotton ourselves! Long live lean and green!

So mark your calendars! Beginning in the year 2010, price is no longer a barrier to going green.   

Next New Year’s Eve I’ll let you know how it went. Happy New Year everyone!

Greenwash Equals Hogwash

Greenwash is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products as environmentally friendly. I see it when quizzing raw material suppliers. For example, there are manufacturers of nasty old banner vinyl that is that they claim to be bio-degradable, or compostable. Oh yeah?

It takes regular nasty old vinyl banner material 300 years to decompose. As it does it releases dioxin a cancer causing global pollutant. Do does is a material made from petro-chemicals that decomposes faster good or bad for the environment?

I have never seen anyone in my neighborhood compost with vinyl, bio-degradable or not!