A printing company Washington, DC may do a brisk business because of all the paperwork needed by Congress and the House of Representatives in addition to the White House even though the majority of the country is heading toward a paperless business.  Many physicians’ offices, veterinarian offices and even some college administrative offices are now joining the eco-friendly paperless bandwagon.

Many print companies are talking about going green in order to attract more environmentally conscious customers, plus they are joining chain-of-custody groups in order to make sure that their paper and ink and printed materials meet the high standards of several green organizations.

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), are all accredited and many print shops associate themselves with one or all three, which are busy educating clients on the true meaning of paper.  However, most publishers want to know if a printing company is accredited. The FSC logo is fast becoming the logo of choice for a Washington, DC printer and printing companies across the country because it is the symbol of environmental care for both publishing and printing industries.

There are several choices between virgin content and 100 percent recycled papers. For example, some print shops use paper with high post-consumer recycled fiber content – above 50 percent – as their way of going green. For other print companies, it’s the use of soy, or vegetable-based inks instead of petroleum-based or heavy metal inks as a way of ‘greening’ their printing production. Both of these options still have an environmental impact from harmful by-products, greenhouse emissions and the recycling/deinking that follows as the end result.  Perhaps the best way to minimize impact on the environment is to minimize resource uses and reducing the waste.

Although they still have some credit to their name, the FSC branding is so strong that the other certifications seem too pale in comparison; nonetheless the SFI grades or more plentiful in the markets, more paper mills are undergoing the FSC audits.