Our Commitment to Carbon Offsetting: Two Years of Greener Printing
Over the last two years, we have undertaken a significant journey to minimise our environmental footprint and enhance the sustainability of our printing services. As a company dependent on materials, energy, and transportation, we see it as our duty to act responsibly—not only by optimising our operations but also by supporting initiatives that offset the carbon emissions we generate.
Today, both businesses and individuals are more conscious of their environmental footprint. Printing is frequently viewed as a resource-intensive activity, but with proper strategies, it can help address environmental issues instead of worsening them. Adopting eco-friendly printing methods allows you to not only minimise damage but also support a climate-positive future.
The Three R’s used to refer to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic but are now better know as Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. But there is a new interloper in town – Carbon Reduction – and it’s getting a lot of traction. Does this mean that we should forget about the three R’s and head in a different direction in order to reach our environmental goals and more importantly, which is more beneficial?
Currently Carbon is King in as much as less is definitely more. Taking steps to lower greenhouse gas emissions directly addresses global warming and in turn the frequency and severity of its consequences. But for many, taking steps towards lowering carbon emissions is a long, and potentially costly, exercise – particularly for small businesses. So how can this be achieved cost effectively?
Earth Day is a time to focus on our planet's health and celebrate the steps we can all take towards a more sustainable future.
We’ve been championing Eco print for a long time!
When we launched our online eco-print platform in 2006 we were the only UK printer offing a 100% eco-printing option. As such we were called upon by the paper merchants and ink manufacturers to trial and test their products and consequently we were the first print company in the UK to switch to vegetable-oil based inks and to run all of our products on 100% recycled paper.
A Local Printer has been a member of Carbon Club since 2021 and has annually offset 50 tonnes of carbon. This is in addition to the carbon offsetting programme for our paper and our and in combination means that we are a fully carbon neutral company with some room to spare!
For many of our customers knowing that they have a carbon neutral product is now more important that having their printing on recycled papers, and for those who wish to use it we have a new eco logo that can be added to any of our printed products.
Carbon neutrality is the single biggest thing we can all achieve, with plenty of carbon offsetting programmes available to businesses and individuals alike.
There are some simple steps that we can take to reduce the carbon we generate in our daily lives:-
1. Turn down your thermostat and water by one degree
2. Turn off lights and appliances when they are not being used
3. Reduce your food waste
4. Ensure your home is well insulated
5. Always have a reusable bag with you when you shop
6. Organise a car pool for employees and/or friends
Periods of bad weather are a challenge to our couriers and on some occasions can result in damaged deliveries. With courier companies under pressure to get the delivery made on the first day, sometimes your parcels can end up left outside in the wet weather resulting in soggy tops and bottoms!
At Chez ALP we are doing our best to mitigate the occurrence of damp print by re-using the paper wrappers that our paper is delivered in.
Enlisting the assistance of our finishing staff these wrappers have been flattened (no mean feat) and hand trimmed to the perfect size for our boxes. So during periods of particularly wet weather our boxes will include our very own wet weather membrane to protect your print.
A perfect all round winner; Reduce and re-used courtesy of ALP and fully recyclable so you can pop it straight in to your recycling bin.
In 2020 we signed up for three different Carbon Capture programmes that covered all of the papers we use for wrapping paper, greeting cards, school books, leaflets, flyers, posters and all but a handful of products that use special papers.
In 2020 we did pretty well, especially considering that the world had shut down for Covid. But in 2021 we really got digging and notched up an incredible 267 trees planted, UK woodland replanting and tropical rainforest protection. So, a big thank you to all of our customers who kept placing orders and coming back for more, because without you we would not have bought the paper or printed the products and the world would be a little less green.
It’s well known withing the hallowed halls of Chez ALP that I simply cannot throw anything out – especially if I think I can do something with the odds and sods that would normally go for recycling. A good case in point is the trimming from the sheets of RecyCup paper which has a wonderful texture and high white colour. Combine this with trim from our kraft products and you have all the makings of an undersize A6 notepad.
Step 2 is enlist the help of our design studio to come up with some clever covers, borrow one of the presses for short while to print the covers, cajole the finishing department in to guillotining, creasing and gluing and there you have it – one notepad made entirely from paper destined to be recycled.
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A Local Printer has been a member of Carbon Club since 2021 and has annually offset 50 tonnes of carbon. This is in addition to the carbon offsetting programme for our paper and our and in combination means that we are a fully carbon neutral company with some room to spare!
Carbon neutrality is the single biggest thing we can all achieve, with plenty of carbon offsetting programmes available to businesses and individuals alike. 
Periods of bad weather are a challenge to our couriers and on some occasions can result in damaged deliveries. With courier companies under pressure to get the delivery made on the first day, sometimes your parcels can end up left outside in the wet weather resulting in soggy tops and bottoms!
In 2020 we signed up for three different Carbon Capture programmes that covered all of the papers we use for wrapping paper, greeting cards, school books, leaflets, flyers, posters and all but a handful of products that use special papers.
It’s well known withing the hallowed halls of Chez ALP that I simply cannot throw anything out – especially if I think I can do something with the odds and sods that would normally go for recycling. A good case in point is the trimming from the sheets of RecyCup paper which has a wonderful texture and high white colour. Combine this with trim from our kraft products and you have all the makings of an undersize A6 notepad. 
