Over the past six years, companies that do business with Denver-based Publication Printers have helped the printer offset more than 1.6 billion printed pages and replant more than 192,000 trees through a reforestation project called Print Releaf. In total, Print Releaf has replanted more than 2.1 million trees since it began.
Publication Printers would love to see some of its newspaper clients, who it does commercial printing for, join the Print Releaf program (a certification system and software platform for automated global reforestation). Through this program, Publication Printers calculates the amount of paper used by the client for a specific job and then replants the equivalent paper usage's worth of trees.
Nate Saunders, a sales representative with Publication Printers, says printers often get grief because they aren't "print friendly." While FSC stock and recycled paper help with the "green" footprint, it increases a client's typical print bill anywhere between 2 and 5%. Print Releaf offers an alternative low-cost way to offset your carbon footprint.
So, when Jordan Darragh, CEO of Print Releaf, approached Publication Printers six or seven years ago about the program, they found it to be a much more affordable eco-friendly solution. The costs are lower (about 1% of your total print bill, as opposed to 2-5%), there's no special paper to order and no waiting for specialty paper. "If you're spending $10,000 on a print job, you spend $100 with Print Releaf," Saunders said.
Darragh said the Print Releaf model basically "flipped the whole thing over." He said, "We don't look at anything in terms of where the wood or the paper came from. We just measure the volume of the paper associated with that print job and the weight is the easiest way to do it."
It also becomes a marketing strategy, allowing the printer to choose between multiple reforestation projects around the world where trees will be replanted to offset the volume of paper they are using. Clients currently can choose from eight reforestation projects — in the United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Ireland, Madagascar, India and Canada, with more sites being announced soon.
Clients who participate in Print Releaf receive a variety of materials that help them promote their eco-friendly efforts to the general public, including a public landing page that can be added to their website showing their commitment to sustainability and the number of trees that have been replanted ... and where. Darragh said this makes it easy for them to share their progress on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more.
To learn more about Publication Printers' eco-friendly efforts, contact Nate Saunders or Dave Sanchez (sales manager).
