Green Printing:

We recommend using printing processes and papers that have the least impact on our environment. We are connected with printing companies that are practicing todays best standards. This includes FSC certified printers that also print with soy based inks.

So what is FSC?

Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations. FSC has offices in more than 45 countries.

FSC certification supports the conservation and long-term maintenance of forests so that they are permanently maintained and managed in a socially and environmentally responsible way. FSC certified timber does not include raw material from damaging forestry practices or forest conversion which lead to carbon emissions from deforestation, forest degradation and forest fires.

What about soy based inks?

Soy ink contains non-toxic soybean oil, the same oil which is used in cooking oils, dressings and thousands of other foods and beverages. Soybean oil is extracted from soybeans grown in the United States. Simply by requesting soy inks when you go to the printer you are supporting American agriculture. As quoted by the United Soybean Board and the National Soy Ink Information Center “Using soy ink helps the nation’s economy by providing a market for a domestic crop while diminishing dependence on foreign resources”.

• Soy inks create rich, vivid color
• Soy inks help prevent pollution
• Soy inks are a safe, sustainable, and renewable resource
• Soy inks are accessible: 25% of the nation’s offset printers use them

Green Hosting:

The term “Green hosting” is used when hosting companies servers run off a natural power source, typically wind or solar, but it could also be bio gas or geothermal as well. There are a number of hosting companies to choose from that are Green-e certified.

Green-e is the nation’s leading independent consumer protection program for the sale of renewable energy and greenhouse gas reductions in the retail market.

Many people underestimate how important it is to choose green hosting. Google runs over 450,000 servers and consumes more electricity than a medium size city like Raleigh, NC everyday. Google is opening a new facility in the mid-west in 2009 that will utilize all wind power, go google!