The dog days of summer are here! And if you're not suffering through the coldest/wettest summer on record in your state, it's the hottest/driest one! Seattle is turning into a crisp and I just received a note from a North Carolina resident saying he was chilly and floating away! Not his usual summer weather...
To help us focus on something other than the weather, I did a quick survey of the
Top 10 Posts of the Year. Yes, we're only 7 months into 2009, but a mid-year check seemed in order.
Here they are; enjoy!
1. In February,
Charlie Corr, Chief Strategist,
Mimeo.com, wrote an
An Open Letter to the Industry: "Don't Print" isn't "Going Green." He definitely spoke for industry; more than 27 comments were posted responding. His premise? "Despite the many environmentally friendly actions taken by the paper, printing and publishing industries, little is known of these efforts due to a self-inflicted inability to publicize them. Unlike the auto or fuel industries, we don’t spend any money as an industry on
effective green promotion."In response to Charlie's open letter, we received a
Letter to the Editor, RE: "Don't Print" isn't "Going Green" from
Phil Riebel, Director, Environmental Affairs – North America,
UPM-Kymmene, adding his thoughts to the discussion.
2. Swinging all the way to online only, the second most popular post to date is
10 Ways Twitter Will Permanently Change Business. Social media marketing has captured a lot of attention and
Twitter and
Facebook are the "go to" places right now. We're even seeing industry groups like the
Institute for Graphics and Imaging (IGI) offering seminars to teach printers how to get their minds around it. And
Barb Pellow is telling
Print Service Providers - You Can Be Social (Media) Too!
3. Being a Small Printer Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Green highlighted three small printers in Vancouver BC who are walking the talk that
Richard Romano's
Printing Goes Green report highlighted. In that report, small printers, having 20-49 employees said that they:
- Identify their company in marketing and sales materials and promotions as an environmentally sensitive business. (36.0%)
- Have special “green” certifications from independent organizations. (30.7%)
- Justify new equipment purchases because of their more favorable environmental impact. (26.7%)
- Promote recycled papers as better than “typical” papers. (22.7%)
- Perform an “environmental impact” statement or audit. (14.7%)
4. Are we so busy talking about being green that we forget it’s good business? In
Letter to the Editor - Green is Good Economics a reader asks if we're just “strutting our stuff” in our own barnyard? Are we forgetting to tell our customers and prospects that we have been doing some of these things for a long time; that they’re good business?
5. The company everyone loves to hate –
Wal-Mart - has announced a new program to develop “green” standards and ratings for all the products it sells. So what does that mean for you? After all, you don’t make t-shirts or dish soap. Take a look at
Wal-Mart Speaks Sustainability and see how you might be affected.
6. It's pretty clear that "how to" posts are popular. The
Sustainable Design Checklist from Design Can Change helps graphic designers not only to consider the environment when they design projects but to think strategically about sustainability.
7. If you need a few more ideas to help you along the path to sustainability, try this
Checklist for Going Green.
8. Mr. D. Eadward Tree, author of
Dead Tree Edition, offered a color-coded “tale of the tape” (as they say in boxing circles) comparing “Dead Dinosaur Editions” with “Dead Tree Editions” on key attributes, in
What’s Greener – Pixels or Paper?
9. Yet more
Tools for Designing Green Print. Advice from every corner; don't miss it! In answering four questions, it is possible to ensure that the resulting product is as environmentally friendly as possible.
10. You'll find everything you wanted to know about "green" printing inks, but were afraid to ask in
Frequently Asked Questions on Printing Inks from INX International’s “Green Team” - Part One. Don't miss
Part Two and
Part Three for the rest of the story!
Enjoy! And I hope you're having a good summer!