As part of our efforts to promote green printing, we continue to closely follow the printing industry, keep you posted with printers who have already adopted eco-friendly practices in their business and speak with them on the state of green printing, the trends, the challenges in the present and their plans for the future.

We posted already two interviews with green printers (Greg Barber and Deb Bruner) and today we are happy to have another green printer on our blog: Livio Ciciotti of Monroe Litho (Rochester, NY).

Livio Ciciotti is an Account Executive with Monroe Litho based in Rochester, NY. He is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Print Media. He has been invloved in printing since high school. Livio is also in the Marine Corps Reserve, an honor graduate from the School of Infantry he now serves with 3rd Battalion 25th Marines out of Buffalo, NY and is preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan.

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A Green Printer interview with Carmen Spagnola, entrepreneur and owner of m.

1. What made you want to start m?
I started m because I was a frustrated consumer.  I decided that  if I want to have access to smarter, more beautifully designed, more  responsible products and amenities for my home and family, I was going
to have to create more demand.  Markets are a bit of a chicken-and-egg  relationship.  Many retailers will tell you that they only provide  what their customers want.  That is only part of my modus operandi.
I want to showcase the possibility of a better performing future, so  much of what I sell and promote is currently considered ahead of the market.  But how will the market know what it wants if we don’t inspire it to want more?

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A special guest post by Aaron Schoenberger for Green Printer’s ‘Design Goes Green’ series.

A common misconception, one that I’ve seen a thousand times, is the idea that simply printing on recycled mediums, with soy ink, will make one’s marketing materials green. In essence, it’s not only the printing that makes a company green, but also the research and time spent identifying target markets, concocting copy that’s both precise and somewhat vague at the same time, limiting the want to send promotional material to everyone on the planet, and a host of other factors that, if not done properly, will result in a slap on the wrist from good ole’ Mother Earth.

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Earth Day takes place this April 22nd.

As a green leader or entrepreneur, the day begs the question, what will you be doing?

In a mad public relations world that anchors on events as a tangible “touch point” in lieu of diving into the messier (and harder to track or control) world of ‘awareness’, Earth Day is one of many symbols (i.e. polar bears) we use when speaking to some of the starker and concrete practices of the planet’s ecological anxieties.

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Green Printer speaks with Sigrid Albert, Principal and Art Director of StepUp Communications, a company that focuses on creative services for internal communications.

A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat.

Some of your clients integrate sustainability in their business. What advice would you give to green start-up businesses in terms of identity and design?

Having a clear vision and direction for your company is the first step. From there, you can create your visual identity. Green businesses already have clear values to communicate, which makes it easier to design for them. Their visual identity should reflect what the business does and the best thing is for them to follow through with their promise. Be clear about what your strengths are and the direction your business is going, and designers can help with that process.

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A contributing post by Deb Ozarko, Director of Creative Services for Clearly Green Design, an Ottawa, Canada based visual communications firm.

There is no escaping the dark news about today’s current economic situation. Regardless, there are ways for us to all survive - and thrive - simply by asking ourselves one question: Want or Need?

In a planet faced with the tragic fallout from the over consumptive patterns of typical North American society, an economic crisis may just what we need to show us the true cost of our spending habits.  It would not hurt us a bit to do less spending on frivolous - and often environmentally damaging items, and pay more attention to consumer or donor messaging so we can begin to develop an overall higher eco-consciousness.

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By Contributing Writer Melissa Chungfat | Part of Green Printer’s ‘Design Goes Green’ dispatch.

Thanks to blogs, websites, Facebook, and the ever-growing list of social media tools, people have the ability and power to educate themselves about anything they please. It is harder for companies to get away with lies about their products and misleading messages. People can easily look up “greenwashing” or “what is an organic product?” in a search engine and in a matter of seconds, they have a list of resources that cuts through the PR.

So how can companies who are taking sincere environmental initiatives market themselves credibly?

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For those that choose the second option, there are several interesting paths to follow, and many places to find ideas to inspire which one you choose. Springwise is my favorite, with thousands of trend spotters around the world, writing brief, engaging pieces on companies expanding what’s possible. For quick scanning, they’re categorized by type, as in Eco & Sustainability, Style & Design, Non-profit & Social Cause, and Life Hacks.

This piece on Scout Books, sustainably made custom designed journals created for what Springwise calls “minipreneurs” is one example. Though this article was focused on how Pinball Publishing enables ecologically minded artists and innovative swag seekers to create high quality journals to their specifications in a relatively small run, suitable for selling on Etsy stores and the like, it was when I looked further at Pinball itself that I saw a dynamic business model well suited for these times.

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By Contributing Writer Melissa Chungfat.

Design Goes Green - The first of a series of articles by Green Printer on the cross-section between the environment, business and the creative communications industry.

Every day we hear about companies going under and pub meals having more value than bank stocks. At at time when profits are low across the nation, some company executives think that now is not the time to implement environmental initiatives. So why did companies committed to sustainability in 2008 perform better that those that didn’t?

Management consulting firm A.T. Kearney did a study comparing the performances of  99 companies with strong commitments to sustainability against industry averages from May to November 2008. Companies that leaned towards green outperformed industry averages by 15% over the six months in 16 of the 18 industries.

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Talking with Corey Szopinski, Principal and Founder of Core Industries.

Your firm has worked on some pretty cool projects like Live Earth and Pepsi, 1% for the Planet and the Volkswagen Carbon Neutral Project. Tell us what your clients come to your company for and what makes Core Industries different from other interactive strategy, design and development firms.

We’re the next evolution of a boutique interactive marketing firm. We are one of the few very high end development shops that has a clear mission of focusing on the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. Clients come to us because they know that we get invested in their projects, their company, and their people, because we care about what we’re doing… we not out to make a quick buck. In fact, our overall mission is to help foster the emerging green economy. Our way of doing that is by using graphic design, computer science and marketing strategy to help our clients be more “sustainable”. And for us sustainability has a dual meaning: it means being responsible for our environment, but it also means making sure the business is sustainable. In other words, we help our clients thrive, not just survive.

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First and foremost I create detailed native nature drawings. With these, I create an eponymous line of paper goods and fabric accessories. I’ve been an “indie-craftpreneur” since 2001, selling my goods on my retail website and in boutiques worldwide. I also create murals, take on custom art commissions, and the occasional graphic design project for like-minded businesses.

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Interview with Studio 7 Designs‘ Aran Down.

You are an award-winning, environmentally friendly design firm. Tell us what your clients come to your company for and what makes Studio 7 Designs different from other ‘green’ design firms.

We started out about five years ago by providing non-profit groups with free consultation and web design. Originally, we focused on helping out local companies ─ it was our way of giving back to the community. After about two years of helping about 50 non-profit organizations, including many universities and UN chapters, we were getting offers for corporate branding through our contacts. At that time, Studio 7 Designs was run by me and some part-time designers, so it was a natural evolution to move towards being a full-time design and development company. Our roots are based in real ethics. Our site doesn’t have a green theme; we wanted to try to capture the beauty of the natural world and use artistic creativity to show who we are as a whole.

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Is your Resolution to Kickstart the Next Clean Revolution?

A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat.

I talked to one of my friend’s yesterday and she told me that the staff Christmas party wasn’t nearly as joyful as in previous years. Half of the people who came to the party were let go. There have been record layoffs since the economy has gone south, and it’s hard to talk to someone whose family hasn’t been impacted in some way.

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A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat.

Every single word counts when it comes to marketing. How you package your brand with words and images has a strong influence on how people perceive your company.

But before I dive into which words can work for your product or service, always keep in mind that your company’s credibility is the first priority. Otherwise, it will affect how receptive people are to your words and any attempts to ‘pull the wool’, so to speak, over a target market’s eyes can backfire.

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The eco-holiday tips are beginning to pour in everywhere. Al Gore was on Oprah last week discussing the impacts of global warming and giving advice on how people can help the environment and save some cash this holiday. And, Obama is certainly doing his part with his plans to green the White House.

If you are an early bird ecopreneurist who wants to distinguish your business this holiday season or are at odds on what to give your customers, staff or business partners, one thing you can do is get a CarbonFree® Product Certification from the non-profit, Carbonfund.org. With CF, with the click of a mouse, you can give the gift of carbon neutrality. 

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A post by contributing guest writer Melissa Chungfat.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Thomas Friedman on the tube talking about his book Hot, Flat, and Crowded. The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner is getting a lot of buzz stressing the necessity of a green global industry. Ecopreneurs are key in developing innovative solutions to deal with the tremendous global environmental problems.

The book title refers to the convergence of global warming, the rise of the middle class, and the exponential population growth. These factors drive the following five trends over their tipping point:

• Energy and resource
• Petro dictatorship
• Biodiversity loss
• Climate change
• Energy poverty

In our culture of convenience, so many people want to help the environment – if they can keep all of their luxuries; they want to green their habits – if it’s convenient enough; they want to buy green products – if it’s easy enough to find. But this attitude won’t fly anymore with the problems we are facing.

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What is going on here? Both companies are adopting tactics used by sustainability minded entrepreneurs as part of the time tested sustainability supply chain model: measure, purchase local where possible, maintain long-term relationships and integrate accountability at all ‘nodes’ of the chain.

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Photo credits: Wired.com.

Entrepreuneur.com recently wrote an excellent guide for small business owners on proactive moves they can take to survive - and better yet, thrive - in the nose-diving economy.

“You Can Weather the Economic Storm (Product price sensitivity and financial creativity can help you thrive in any economy)” is especially relevant for green entrepreneurs as many of the principles underlying Dennis Romero’s advice aligns with what sustainable business leaders already know: go for local resilience, understand the value of community-based goodwill and when in doubt, simply, simplify, simplify to the bare essentials (do the latest farm-fresh food recipes or eco-cleaning supplies mantras sound familiar, anyone?).

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Let’s kill the business card, the paper one that is.

Why do we need it anyways? It does that hideous bent corner thing when you take out of your wallet (excuse us “Mr. That’s-why-I-get-my-cards-lamented”, you are an exception), the VP of Financial Genius gets tossed next to the Hatha yoga instructor and besides, that font you chose, with painstaking care, is ugly anyways.

Like Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief of NextWeb.org, I feel impelled to stop the “ruthless hitmen” and their budding online appetites to belittle and ultimately, kill the paper business card and switch to rmbrME’s bzCard or some other gadget.

Little surprise, most visitors, many with entrepreneurial backgrounds, on the original TechCrunch post by Jason Kincaid weren’t too fond of the whole “death warrant” idea.

“You guys need to get out of the [Silicon] [V]alley more. The business card, and your other page view bloating proclamation about voicemail, is not going away any time soon. You do realize that most business people only use their phone for voice calls and e-mail? Most business people don’t even belong to a “social network.”"

- Alex Valentine

“Most successful people I know simply don’t own a computer, sure as hell not a cell phone. There is no substitute for a business card in the real world.”

- Anderson

“They’re clumsy? What is that supposed to mean? They’re pieces of paper.They’re easy to lose? When did pants stop sporting pockets? Useless? Do the words fall off if the card is shaken or something? And seriously? Trying to throw in the “it’s the green thing to do” line? Come on. That line is wearing thin.”

- David H.

Now, from a sustainability in business perspective, the bzCard (or other eCard, vCard, etc.) can save paper, save trees and contribute to cuts in greenhouse emissions, right?

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It’s no secret: businesses who build durable internal systems breed long term and sustainable profits.

In fact, the rule on the street, and this applies to enterprising green businesses who are past their mainstream ‘breaking point’ and are now swimming with the rest of the so-called ’sharks’, is often ‘automate or perish’.

But automation (business speak for “doing it better and faster”) is hardly a Darwinian one-way street – eco-minded companies are benefiting more than just their own bottom line by developing or partnering to develop software that automates green decision making: they are greening entire industries.

And, the three who are doing it – Green Printer, Workforce Software and Sustainable Minds – have a lot to share on what it takes to get there.

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