Unlike  my sage (but never jaded) colleagues at WhatTheyThink, this was my first Graph Expo. I had expected it to be bigger, louder, and flashier (Patrick Henry appears to be of a similar mind in his October 6 commentary.)  I had also expected to see more products touted more openly as “green.” Sure, there was a more-centrally located GreenSpace section this year, but i didn't find any real green game-changer in that neck of the woods. What was on display in the GreenSpace included a couple of paper companies, a couple of certification bodies, SFI, SGP, and some manufacturers with products such as shredding equipment (helps manage waste, but does not help reduce its generation), and offline UV coating equipment (addresses the VOC issue, but contributes to the “un-recyclable-printed sheet” issue). For me, the GreenSpace was a real mixed bag. Elsewhere on the show floor, the green attributes of products were, for the most part, relegated to bullet points that appeared late in the sales presentations. For example, the significant waste-cutting benefits (in terms of paper and consumables) of the near-zero-make-ready FujiFilm J Press 720 short-to-medium run digital press are impossible to find in the product literature and seemed like an afterthought in the live demo for the otherwise very exciting new product. Böwe Bell + Howell’s MailStream Inveloper was another product that suffered a bit from the “light under a bushel” syndrome. In my discussion with BB+H VP Marketing, Mike Maselli, I learned that the lengthy run cycle of the device, which forms envelopes on-the-fly around pre-printed inserts or forms secure edge-sealed self mailers out of pre-printed stock, results in significant energy savings through a reduction in peak-load draws associated with frequent start-ups. And, because the Inveloper is roll-fed with pre-printed stock, use of the system eliminates the need to warehouse boxes of envelopes and inserts. (It also eliminates the need for those boxes themselves, which reduces cost and the need to recycle the carton. Less is more, when it comes to waste.) It would have been great to have those green-related savings quantified and clearly presented in the product information sheet, and not just on one of the several sample styles of Invelopes they were producing that morning. "Green" has always been just another product benefit, along with performance, competitive cost, etc. Perhaps its novelty is wearing off in a market that is evolving toward increasing sustainability (and I really think the graphic communications industry is moving that way). If so, it is only natural that green claims become woven into the fabric of sales presentations and literature. I only wished they had not been woven-in so deeply at this Graph Expo. Guess I'm not ready for green to be passé.