i-tees

From time to time, I come across interesting websites, helping to spread the message that we all need to conserve. Some of these resources are wonderful for graphic designers who wish to design “Greener.” Since we work with our clients to produce quite a lot of promotional materials, packaging, advertising, posters and more, we all need to do our part to institute eco-friendly design & printing techniques.

Here are a few resources I’ve discovered:

Unisourcegreen.com – A resource for environmentally-friendly products and specialized services distributed by Unisource Worldwide, Inc., providing a GREEN advantage. Visit us often as Unisource expands our green products and services.

Inhabit – Greening Graphic Design – From their site: “The green path of the future involves getting intimate with your favorite printer.”

“…While we wish it were as simple as specifying ‘recycled’ paper and soy inks, we were surprised and delighted to learn that the greenest printers and print technology innovators have moved beyond false promises of simple cure-alls. Instead, each link in the supply chain is coming forward with their own sustainable solutions, from Processless Printing Plates to eliminating the use of VOCs in inks and coatings.”

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Design Can Change – (This site is Flash) From their site: “Design Can Change is simple.It works on the belief that our industry can make positive change by working together. Use this resource as a starting point to help bring our community together to encourage sustainable practices.”

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Ecofont – I first read about this new font in National Geographic, and thought this was a great idea, so I visited the website and downloaded the font.
From their site: “Appealing ideas are often simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink. Free to download, free to use. There is also a print solution for business environments: Ecofont Professional.”

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Design it Greener – From their site: “Designitgreener is an all-inclusive resource for the graphic, packaging, industrial, interior and architectural design industries. At designitgreener.com, we’re helping designers stay informed and educated on the latest and greatest in all realms of green design by providing news, tips and advice, a glossary of common green terms and a green design gallery where designers will find inspiration to help begin and continue to make green choices a part of their everyday design practices.”

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Green Press Initiative – From their site: “Green Press Initiative is committed to advancing sustainable patterns of production and consumption within the U.S. book and newspaper industries and within the paper industry at large. GPI also advances policy innovations related to paper and climate change and recycling and incubates pioneering new strategies for market transformation.”

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Re-Nourish – From their site:“…Re-nourish is here to help designers sort it all out. Sustainability, at its heart, is a framework for developing economic, social, and environmental systems that meet the needs of both current and future generations.”

Here’s the latest on a few paper manufacturers that have some of the best post-consumer fiber, environmentally responsible products

Appleton Coated – Green Zone – (Wonderfully designed and informative website.)

From their site: “A well-managed forest” means:
• Trees do not come from rain forests or ancient timbers
• Forestry practices do not contribute to habitat loss
• Indigenous people are not displaced as a result of forestry practices

Utopia Green
FSC-Certification – Appleton Coated secured the Forest Stewardship Council certification in 2007. They were the first coated paper mill to secure this certification.
Post-Consumer Recycled Fiber – From 10% to 30% PCW

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Cougar (Making Paper Fun) - Domtar EarthChoice®
EarthChoice family of products, FSC-certified and endorse by Rainforest Alliance.
(Fun design and informative website)

From PRNewwire-FirstCall via COMTEX:

Domtar marks milestone with sale of millionth ton of FSC-certified paper

MONTREAL, Sept 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — Domtar Corporation (NYSE/TSX: UFS) announced today that it has marked a significant milestone with the sale of its millionth ton of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. This achievement is a direct result of the commitment Domtar made nearly a decade ago to pursue FSC certification for all of its forests and facilities…”

From their website: “Certifications and Collaborations”
Sharing the responsibility
“Domtar is committed to meeting the highest standards for forest, environmental and quality management. After all, in order to make our pulp and paper products, we rely on the forest. So it’s easy to recognize the importance of managing these precious resources — and protecting the environment…”

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Cascades – Green By Nature TM
(Visit their informative website and read/download their report)

Here are some details from their 2008 Report on Sustainable Development:
• During 2008, Cascades used 2.2 million short tons of recycled fibres.
• The company is the 1st paper collector in Canada.
• These recycled fibres make up 73% of the raw material used to manufacture our products.

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Finch – (Finchpaper.com) – They have earned the responsible forestry certification of both the world’s most respected third-party certification groups—FSC and SFI
Two of their papers and there are many more which can be seen on this page of their site.
Finch Premium Blend – 30% post-consumer recycled fiber
Finch Casa Opaque – 30% post-consumer recycled paper

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Wausau Paper – wausaupaper.com
(Read about these papers in their Consumer Paper & Products section) Exact Eco 100 – Copier, Inkjet & Laser paper – Environmentally responsible paper, made with 100% recycled post-consumer fiber. Acid-free, lignin-free.
From their site:
In paper products using the Forest Stewardship Council certified label; Wausau Paper Corp. is committed to implement its best purchasing efforts to avoid trading and sourcing wood or wood fiber from:
• Illegally harvested wood.
• Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights.
• Wood harvested in forests in which high conservation values are threatened by management activities.
• Wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use.
• Wood from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted.

There is a store that I love to shop in, down in Hoboken. It’s right on Washington Street (the main drag) around the center of town. They have organic and wonderfully fresh food and I’m happy to spend a bit more, even in rough economic times, for healthy food.

Lately they have started a practice that has made me upset and I need to write about it. They have chosen to eliminate the plastic forks, knives and napkins that were set out in separate compartments. Now they only have pre-packaged plastic utensils, which come with salt, pepper and one napkin.

I definitely need more than one napkin when I eat a sandwich or salad, but what am I to do? I must open another package. I choose to take the extras home with me so I can use them.

This is an unbelievable practice of waste. I look around and see forks, salt, etc…left on tables. Folks might also just choose to throw out what they didn’t even use.

I’d like to add that I think they need to stop using plastic bags and promote reusable bags.

I suggest the next time you’re in the store, comment about this, as I will on their website and in person and maybe they will change what they’re doing.

It’s sad to see this type of thing in an organic “green” type store.

Yesterday I visited the School of Visual Arts Gallery at 601 West 26th Street (15th Floor) in New York City. The exhibition of Milton Glaser’s exceptional work was closing on Saturday, and as an alumni and a great fan of his work, I had to see it.

As the elevator doors open you are greeted by beautiful double glass doors and a huge SVA logo to the left side. Inside there was a wonderful variety of his poster designs and in two of the rooms, the occasional glass case, where we were able to view his sketches, getting a glimpse into other solutions he thought of before creating the final piece.

For those of you who think they do not know who Milton Glaser is, I’m sure you are familiar with his work.

From Wikipedia on Milton Glaser:

“…best known for the I Love New York logo,^[1] his “Bob Dylan” poster, the “DC bullet” logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005, and the “Brooklyn Brewery” logo. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968….In 1954 Glaser was a founder, and president, of Push Pin Studios formed with several of his Cooper Union classmates….Glaser has taught at both the School of Visual Arts and at Cooper Union in New York City.”

The posters ranged from statements about why an artist should enroll at SVA (my favorite copyline is, “To be good is not enough, when you dream of being great.”) to the tragedy of Darfur or revisiting the “I Love New York” campaign after 9/11 and creating, “I Love New York More Than Ever.”

Click here to see the full gallery I photographed at the show, including a few shots of the view of the Hudson River and New Jersey, from the balcony.

I’m thrilled to report about the fastest selling book from Oregon State University Press, “Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities, by Jeff Mapes.” I’m going to pick this up! (amazon link)

Artist and musician David Burne, (link to his blog) wrote about this book, in The New York Times Book Review last week. (NY Times article) Byrne, a bicycle enthusiast has his own book, “Bicycle Diaries” due out in September. (NY Times article) (I’ll get this one too!)

From the NY Times article about “Pedaling Revolution”

David Byrne writes: “…But the book is useful — for those of us who occasionally find ourselves on the defensive, Mapes provides names, dates, facts and figures. He details how cities from Amsterdam to Paris to New York to Davis, Calif., have developed policies encouraging cycling in recent decades, and how other towns are just beginning to make way for bikes…”

From the NY Times article about “Bicycle Diaries”

“…Mr. Byrne’s travelogue uses a bicyclist’s perspective — “faster than a walk, slower than a train, often slightly higher than a person” — to take us from his home in New York City and around the United States, as well as to Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Manila, Sydney and London, stops on the tours he has made in support of his musical and art careers…”

As I’ve written in a previous post, I just love to ride my bicycle, and not just on the “Greenway” in NYC, so these new books are on my reading list. Thanks to David Byrne and Jeff Mapes for writing on this subject. I hope it will make an impact on people who haven’t yet gotten on a bicycle, but will now.