*** From the Archives ***

This article is from March 29, 2005, and is no longer current.

Creativeprose: Hug a Tree Today

Nobody wants to despoil the environment. But we all do, to varying degrees.

Creative pros are in an inherently wasteful industry. Even Web designers use paper sometimes! And the computers, servers, and cables that make up the Internet come with a host of environmental problems.

Print designers and photographers can’t help but be culprits. Our products usually appear on some kind of paper, whether it comes from old-growth trees or hemp. Paper usually requires fossil fuels to go from point A to point B. It often goes into landfills. And then there are the inks: Even “green” inks (and I don’t mean the color) have their ecological downsides.

I’m not saying we should all run weeping from our computers and become organic farmers. Nor should we ignore the problem. We can lessen the impact of our profession by making careful choices.

The February 2005 issue of How magazine has a short but excellent article on just that subject. In “Print Ecology,” author Kyle Copas tackles several factors, including paper, printers, and inks. But as he points out, the article “aspires not to identify specific solutions, but to catalyze a profound attitude adjustment… I’d argue that the better way to achieve higher environmental standards is to learn as much as you can about the issue.”

I encourage you to read the article. If you don’t subscribe, beg for a friend’s copy, or check the local library. It’s well worth the effort.

And don’t stop with that article. One aspect that it doesn’t cover is convincing your clients to buy into green design. Once you’ve educated yourself, you have to educate them, at least enough that they understand why you’ve made certain choices. If education doesn’t work, you’ll have to emphasize more tangible benefits.

For example, one way to be more environmentally friendly is to use fewer materials when packaging a product. Fewer materials may mean lower costs. Or the marketing campaign may be able to leverage the eco-savvy packaging by presenting the company as a caring part of the larger community, instead of a money-grubbing capitalist greed-monger.

Woops, did I write that? Maybe I should look into organic farming.

&emdash;Terri Stone, Editor in Chief, creativepro.com

  • plexusdesign says:

    I no longer subscribe to magazines that are not offered in Digital Versions.
    Why doesn’t HOW offer this option if you all are so environmentally conscious?
    This is why I no longer subscribe to HOW.

  • anonymous says:

    Thanks for bringing up this important topic. We CAN make a difference.

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