Paper and the Environment: Dispelling the Myths

On the website, videos and links are also available, as well as a members-only public relations toolkit. The Value of Print campaign not only highlights print’s impact on the environment, but also the value and effectiveness of print as a communications tool.

The Printing Industries Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California (PIASC), which has more than 1,100 member companies, has created Choose Print, an “educational campaign designed to promote the effectiveness of print and to reinforce the fact that print on paper is a recyclable and renewable and, thus, a sustainable environmental choice.”

As part of its mission, PIASC has a slew of resources available. On its website are articles that can be downloaded and used at will—no reprint permission or attribution is required. Separate articles cover print’s impact on the environment, as well as why print is a powerful marketing tool.

There is also a series of 12 postcards; monthly mailings created for members to send to ad agencies. The postcards, available as PDFs and not to be alerted, also focus on print’s effectiveness as an advertising medium as well as its environmental friendliness.

Print Grows Trees, the educational campaign from the Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic, which represents more than 350 members firms in that region, “uses facts to show that print on paper actually helps to grow trees and keep our forests from being sold for development.”

Members are asked to take action, both by becoming environmentally aware (supporting third-party certification, recycling, and understanding the issues) and supporting print as a matter of course: subscribing to the local newspaper, clipping coupons, buying your children books, supporting literacy programs that distribute books, and supporting your local library.