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As the UK’s first ever online eco-printer we have been blazing a trail for environmentally friendly printing since 2006, offering a comprehensive range of products available on recycled papers and printed with vegetable oil based inks and eco-friendly toners. And whilst these days almost all inks are vegetable oil based and almost all paper pulp is sourced from sustainable crop grown forests we continue to promote and champion eco-friendly printing because doing no harm to our planet is what we believe in.
With Earth Day on 22nd April 2018 it is a timely opportunity to look at sustainability in the printing business and how A Local Printer works to achieve this every day.
From its beginnings almost 48 years ago Earth Day is now an annual global event with a mission to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.
A Local Printer and Sustainable Practice
1. Every paper we offer is either 100% recycled or sourced from sustainable sources. This means that the trees are grown specifically as a crop for pulp and are grown in carefully managed conditions that do not harm the environment or the local population.
2. All of our printing ink is soy or vegetable oil based. When eco-friendly inks were first produced A Local Printer was a guinea pig tester for the ink suppliers and the results of trial and error that we found when running these new inks made it easier for other printers to transition from mineral oil to vegetable oil based inks.
3. Following the ink trail of production, vegetable oil and soy beans are themselves produced using sustainable farming methods and even the growth of these crops is a benefit to the planet:-
- 93 percent decrease in soil erosion
- Preservation of one billion tons of top soil
- 70 percent reduction in herbicide run-off
- 326 million pound reduction in CO2 emissions
4. Vegetable oil based inks also breakdown easier than mineral based inks and therefore aid in the recycling process of printed material that enters the waste stream.
5. But the biggest benefit of using vegetable oil based inks is the almost total reduction in VOC (volatile organic compounds, yukky bad carbons) being released in to the atmosphere. Bad for our printers and bad for the environment.
6. We also offer a wide range of ‘just-in-time’ small order printing that is carried out on our digital presses. This allows our customers to order only as much printing as they need - saving them cost and the planet waste and emissions from carbon production.
With ALP you can be sure of sustainability
At A Local Printer being environmentally friendly has been ingrained in our products and practices for so long that we do it without even thinking about it.
Ordering your printing from us comes with the guarantee that our inks are made from a sustainable vegetable oil base; our paper comes from sustainable managed forests; our ‘just-in-time’ and litho printing is on state of the art presses that run efficiently and without high energy use; we run chemistry free plate making kit and alcohol-free presses. And all of this is documented and supported by our ISO14001:2015 Environmental Certification – the most environmentally demanding certification there is.
