EcoFriendly Blog

Is Environmental Printing More Expensive?

I am asked that question a lot. I say no, Environmental Printing can be less expensive, as long  as you follow my advice.

SAVE OVER $1.00 PER POUND ON 100% PCW PAPER.

We have 100% post-consumer waste paper that is approximately 90 brightness that is half the price of our 96 brightness papers, and the 90 brightness prints as well , and bulks better, and feels like an expensive paper,  and is FSC certified,  and Green E certified.

If you needed 5000 pounds of paper for a brochure, that would mean a savings of $6000. My less expensive paper is $1.00 per pound less to buy.
Even at 500 pounds, the savings is $600.

WE STOCK 100% PCW in MORE WEIGHTS.

Another huge factor is the weight of the paper available. My Enviro line comes in 50,  60, 70, 80, and 100# text, and 65, 80, and 100# cover.

Inexpensive newsletters can easily be printed on the 50# or 60# text weights. This means you are saving the $1.00 per pound, and you are saving on the amount of pounds you need. The more expensive 100% PCW lines do not make their grades in 50#  or 60#.

We have printed Green Maps from Wendy Brawer on 60# text, and the opacity is terrific, the printing is terrific, and the folding is perfect.

For a newsletter in multiple pages, or a book, or a brochure that can use lighter paper,
you are also saving money on postage, if you are mailing your jobs

THINK OF YOUR FINAL SIZE BEFORE DESIGNING YOUR JOB.

I tell my clients that whatever you can fit on  up to 500 sheets of 13 x 20 paper, in 4 color printing is a digital job, price wise.

You can fit 9 (4 x 6.25) postcards on this size paper, and 24 (2 x 3.5) business cards and 4 (9 x 6.25) flat size Greeting Cards, which folds to 4.5 x 6.25 on 13 x 20 paper.

Conversely, you only get 2 (10 x 7) flat size Greeting Cards that fold to 5 x 7. You are losing 50% of the yield by selecting 5 x 7 finished size. The 4.5 x 6.25 (A-6) size is as popular in the greeting card stores as the 5 x 7 size.

Multiplying 9 postcards up per sheet times 500 sheets of 13 x 20, and you get 4500 postcards. If you need more than 4500, I would price you on our offset equipment.
After 500 sheets, offset printing has amortized the start up costs, and each sheet from that point on, is a lot less money.

WE HAVE THE CORRECT PRESS FOR YOU JOB.

I partner with plants around the country, and my partners are picked by their environmental stance first, and their equipment second.

If you need a 1-2 color, pantone, spot color job, that goes to my offset plant with 2 color presses.

If you need 500-2000 business cards and 500-1000 postcards, that goes to another partner.

If you need 250 brochures, in page counts,  up to 96 pages plus cover, that
goes to my high end digital plant, where we feature both Igen's and Indigo presses, and
we have channel scoring and the best folding machines, etc.

And, if you have a huge job, we have huge presses.

Greg Barber Company, my parent company, is featured in several books for our sustainable printing work.
 
Print and Production Finishes for Sustainable Design, has our work featured in 20 pages of their 190 page book. The clients featured  include Jurlique Cosmetics, Feed LLC, the U.N, Diesel, Green Apple Cleaners, Green Drinks, Brian Ponto Design, Mohawk Paper, etc

Speaking of Mohawk Paper, we printed a 28 page plus cover brochure, using 6 different weight papers,  that were certified to run on our Indigo presses. We coded each page, so you could feel the paper weight. The printing was superb. You could not tell if we printed on an offset or digital press. The designers use our book like a printed swatch book to show their clients the different paper weights.

The quantity we printed was 200 books. This is the type of brochure we move with lightening speed on. For Climate Week, we ran several rush brochures needed for Tony Blair's speeches at the U.N. One of their brochures was for 3000 brochures, 36 pages plus cover, and we delivered in 36 hours.

Call me anytime,

Greg Barber
973 224 1132

Emailing me is faster.
greg@ecofriendlyprinter.com