Printing Industries of America’s President and CEO Michael Makin encouraged the U.S. printing industry to reject a call by Toshiba America Business Solutions for a National No-Print Day (NNPD).

“Needless to say, we find such a proposal ridiculous and an insult to the more than 800,000 Americans who owe their direct livelihood to our industry,” said Makin.

Toshiba’s nationwide campaign purports to encourage, educate, and challenge individuals and companies to commit to one day of “no printing” and to raise awareness of the impact printing has on our planet. Its event is scheduled for October 23, 2012.

“Toshiba claims that our industry has failed ‘to make the link between printing waste and its negative impacts on our landfills, natural resources and the environment.’” This is patently untrue. “Our industry has long led the way utilizing sustainable processes. The primary raw material for printing is paper, which comes from trees, which are a renewable resource—so renewable that today, our country has 20 percent more trees than it did on the first Earth Day which was held more than 40 years ago,” added Makin.

“Printing is the only medium with a one-time carbon footprint—all other media require energy every time they are viewed. Electronic devices, which Toshiba produces, for example, require the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals, as well as the use of plastics, hydrocarbon solvents, and other non-renewable resources. Moreover 50–80 percent of electronic waste collected for recycling is shipped overseas and is often unsafely dismantled. For Toshiba to call for such a ban on printing is hypocritical to say the least.”

Mr. Makin reiterated that print will very much be alive on October 23 and asked the company how it would feel if that day became “National No-Toshiba Day?”

Printing Industries of America has put together a tool that can be used to dispel the misconceptions about the Printing Industry. This campaign, The Value of Print, contains a flip-book that can be used to dispel the myths about the industry. The flip-book has four sections: Misconceptions, which gives responses to the common misconceptions about print; Effectiveness, which gives statistics on how print is an effective part of the marketing mix and how people still prefer print; By the Numbers, which discusses the importance of the industry and its large economic footprint; and Resources, which lists websites where more information on the subject can be found.