Yes, times are tough and green (as in money) can take precedence over green (as in the environment), however consumers and businesses are still attempting to keep the Triple Bottom Line in mind. It's a challenge to keep costs as low as possible while trying to support the people in your community and limit your effect on the environment. Consider this recent "Letter to the Editor" sent to WhatTheyThink Going Green and take a look - in the paragraphs that follow - at some of the results when things go out of balance.

The City of Bothell Washington, a small suburb north of Seattle, recently made the decision to print Bothell Then and Now, their centennial anniversary keepsake book, in China. In a real touch of irony, the high human cost of buying printing from China really hit home, when I as the CEO of a commercial printing company in Woodinville Washington (directly adjacent to the city of Bothell), had to lay off seven members of my staff earlier this year as a result of the economic slowdown. Included in the layoff was longtime employee David Bothell, great grandson and namesake of David Bothell for whom the city was named. Since I found out about this I have been literally sick to my stomach. I am normally a very positive person and really try to look at what is right with things rather than dwell on what is wrong, but I have not been able to get over this case of shortsightedness by officials of a community that boasts a “Buy Bothell” Program. Not only did they not buy Bothell, they didn’t buy local or even USA! I would love to see what the “Carbon Footprint” of this book is since it could well have been produced using recycled paper scraps shipped from the USA to China for manufacturing back into paper in plants where there is little, if any, environmental oversight, printed somewhere else in China, then shipped back to Bothell Washington USA about two miles from where Dave worked and we could have printed the book. But of course the book is environmentally friendly because it has “The Green Press Initiative” logo (whatever that stands for) and it states on the “credits” page that it is printed on recycled paper with 100% post consumer content. Unfortunately it is printed in the country where childrens’ books and toys have been manufactured with a high lead content and baby formula and dog food with plastics in it. Somehow I’m sure the consciences of the people who made this decision were assuaged by those logos that show they were concerned about the environment. In a final touch of irony, David Bothell who still lives in Bothell, now has less money to “Buy Bothell” and support those business that pay the taxes and the salaries of the same people that have made such shortsighted decisions. I guess they’ll just have to raise Dave’s property taxes to cover his spending shortfall. Thanks, Phil Parrish | President/CEO PRINTWEST | printwest.net

Civic Economics - Where Does the Money Go? Let's first look at some of the effects of buy-local programs. There are numerous studies of the benefits of buying from independently-owned, local businesses. Research by a Chicago group, Civic Economics, provided estimates used by the 3/50 Project which says:

For every $100 spent in locally-owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home."

Let us assume that of the money spent to print Bothell Then and Now, only a percentage of the amount collected by the graphic designer and the print broker will actually stay in the community. The rest has flown the coop. Hard dollars aside, community projects like this can add vitality in other ways. Participants can take real pride in their contributions; they’re really members of the home team. Carbon Footprint - From There to Here When we examine the CO2 emissions resulting from moving the pallets and cartons of books - or cartons and sea containers - to Bothell, we can see a big difference.  We have to realize that this particular book print run was very small when you consider the quantity of books that are ferried from Hong Kong to the US every day. Yes, PrintWest is located just a few miles from downtown Bothell, however there are nearly 100 commercial and digital printers within a 40 mile radius that could have produced a comparable book. Using a worksheet available from The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, one can compare the CO2 emissions from a small container ship traveling 5635 nautical miles to those of a small diesel truck traveling 10 miles. Keep in mind that the books would have been moved from the ship to a truck at the port in Seattle for delivery to Bothell, a trip of about 20 miles, mostly in heavy traffic. The end result? Shipping the books halfway around the world generated 150 times more CO2 than simply driving them down the street. It's the Hard Decisions Let's look at the third leg of the Triple Bottom Line - the profit element; we need to recognize that keepsake books must be reasonably priced in order to sell enough to cover the cost of production. A quick calculation based on actual production and shipping costs provided by the Bothell Landmark Preservation Board and estimated production and shipping costs provided by PrintWest once again highlights the difference between printing locally and off-shoring production. Yes, indeed, the local cost would be about 33% higher than the outsourced cost, but when factored back into the overall calculations, the final price of the book would only need to be 20-25% higher to meet all budgetary requirements. In other words, a book that now sells for $20 could have been priced at $25. Is a beautiful keepsake photobook worth $25? Will the target audience pay that much for it? We'll never know. These are the same hard decisions buyers are making everywhere. Whether a consumer chooses to shop at a locally-owned retailer rather than national chain store or a purchasing manager chooses to have a book produced by a local printer rather than an off-shore production house; it all comes down to balancing the price, the people, and the planet.