WhatTheyThink has just published my latest report, Print Is Green! A WhatTheyThink Primer on Environmental Sustainability in the Graphic Communications Industry, an update to a report first published in 2008. It includes data on green printing initiatives from our most recent (March 2011) Economics and Research Center printing industry survey, an updated look at print vs. e-media and their respective environmental footprints, stories of sustainability from our Environmental Innovation Award winners and other companies in the industry, and other information on steps—big and small—that printers, designers, suppliers, and anyone else involved in graphic communications can take to help improve their impact on the environment. From our survey:
  • 35% of U.S. commercial printers said they “identify itself in marketing and sales materials and promotions as an environmentally sensitive business,” up from 26% who said this in the ERC's March 2008 survey.
  • 44% said that environmentally sustainable printing “is critically important to only a select few customers,” up from 41% three years ago.
  • 42% said that environmentally sustainable printing “is not essential to our business or to our customers,” up from 30% three years ago.
  • 21% said they have a certified environmentally sustainable printing initiative.
The goal of the report is to offer a value proposition for sustainable printing. As I repeatedly stress, “The more printers who don’t see the value in sustainable print themselves, the more it reinforces the belief of those who feel that print is an environmentally unfriendly medium.” As we emerge from the recession, slowly but (somewhat) surely, environmental sustainability will become an increasingly important issue—especially among young people.