Digital Original: Fighting Negativity About Paper and Print The claim by certain businesses that going paperless is to “go green” or “save trees” is a greenwashing message that’s being used to mislead consumers and damage the print and paper industry. Two Sides North America, a graphic-communications industry group, is working to dispel common environmental misconceptions by providing verifi able information on why print and paper is indeed an attractive, practical, and sustainable communications medium. Th e organization has been able to successfully stop greenwashing from such companies as Wells Fargo, AT&T, Starbucks, American Express, Citibank, and Capital One. Two Sides NA challenged these companies for violating US Federal Trade Commission environmental marketing rules. Because of the organization’s actions, fewer people are now seeing these negative statements about paper and print. The power of print As Two Sides NA reports, consumers simply are not buying environmental claims about the use of print. Research from the organization’s recent surveys reveal that: • 85 % of respondents believe companies are making negative green claims about paper in order to save money. • 88 % of respondents indicated that they believe it’s environmentally friendly to produce products such as wood for construction and paper for printing if resources are responsibly managed. • More than 90 % of those surveyed by Two Sides NA agreed that, when responsibly produced, used and recycled print and paper can indeed be sustainable ways to communicate. Print companies and other fi rms wanting to share valuable information with customers about printing and the environment should make it a point to visit the Two Sides NA website at www. twosidesna.org. If you fi nd that your customers are indicating they might abandon print for digital communications, they need to fi rst be aware of the power of print to communicate. Hardware environmentalism On another environmentally related topic: With the new year (and, perhaps, budgets), some shops are looking to upgrade their computer hardware. But getting rid of an old computer isn’t as simple as tossing it in the nearby dumpster.Computers are full of pollutants that can harm the environment, so proper disposal is important. When recycling your old computer, visit e-stewards.org for a list of responsible recyclers that will do the job properly. Th e site electronicstakeback.com also provides tips on getting rid of old computers. When you do decide to retire a computer, be sure you fi rst destroy all personal information on the hard drive. Even the hard drives on a broken computer can be accessed for information. Just deleting or reformatting the disk isn’t enough because much of the information can be retrieved using data-recovery soft ware. You need to wipe the hard drive clean. You will also want to turn on your drive encryption, deauthorize your computer before you uninstall your programs, and delete your browsing history to get rid of stored user names and passwords. Microsoft recommends you wipe your hard drive by using specialized soft ware that will overwrite your information. Another way to make sure no one accesses your discarded hard drive is to physically destroy the hard disk by incinerating, melting, crushing, or shredding it. If the drive contains especially sensitive data, you may want to seek out professionals that specialize in destroying hard drives. By John Giles Senior Consultant for CPrint International John Giles is a senior consultant for CPrint International (cprint.com). He helps printers prosper and understand how to sell technology services. Giles is the author of “12 Secrets for Digital Success” and “The DTP PriceList.” He can be reached at 954-224-1942 or john@cprint.com. Find this article at PrintingNews.com/12192866 February 2 PrintingNews®com 017 ® Printing News 21
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