Green Printer Blog

A Green Printer Online Dispatch

A number of appliance manufacturers have been quick to jump on the sustainability bandwagon. But there’s a room in the typical Canadian home that many don’t consider when looking to go green: the home office.

Particularly in heavy-duty home offices, appliances can eat up energy (consider all the scanners, fax machines, printers and computers). But it’s possible to cut your energy consumption by simply investing in a printer that gets the green seal of approval.

Here are some recommendations about what to look for when printer shopping:

Look for labels

When comparing brands and models, check to see if the printer you’re eyeing is certified as being energy efficient. Is it EnergyStar certified, for example? Does it have EPEAT certification? There are a number of “green” labels to watch for, and such certifications will ensure the appliance won’t eat up excess electricity.

Go for All-In-One

Although you may only be in the market for a printer, consider condensing a few of your office appliances into a single machine. Most major brands now carry numerous models of printers that also scan, copy, fax and perform other functions. Not only does going for the all-in-one option save energy, but also space.

Find Additional Eco Functions

Many newer models of printers now feature an ink-saving mode, which will prevent changing those pesky cartridges too often. Some models also have a “sleep” mode, which cuts back on wasting electricity should the printer be left on.

A Green Printer interview with Carmen Spagnola, entrepreneur and owner of m.

1. What made you want to start m?
I started m because I was a frustrated consumer.  I decided that  if I want to have access to smarter, more beautifully designed, more  responsible products and amenities for my home and family, I was going to have to create more demand.  Markets are a bit of a chicken-and-egg  relationship.  Many retailers will tell you that they only provide  what their customers want.  That is only part of my modus operandi. I want to showcase the possibility of a better performing future, so  much of what I sell and promote is currently considered ahead of the market.  But how will the market know what it wants if we don’t inspire it to want more?
Read the rest of this entry »

A www.greenprinteronline.com dispatch.

This week, we scoured Google, we marveled and finally chose three design resources, trends and case studies from around the globe that inspire in their boundary pushing work. You’ll probably re-think using the colour green in your branding palette. And that’s a good thing.

1. Did you ever wonder what all those old marketing posters for saving the endangered spotted owls could be made out of? In 1980s, you could have conjured nasty words like ‘subterranean chemicals’ or ‘volatile organic compounds‘ (VOCs). Read the rest of this entry »

A www.greenprinteronline.com dispatch.

Here and there in 2007, I saw the idea of the ‘share economy’ pop up.  In 2009, car sharing, bike sharing, vacation sharing and even, clothing sharing seem to have more clout as tidalwave trends as opposed to mere passing trends.

From conference keynote titles like “Is the Share Economy the New New Economy?” at the May 5-7 Next09 Conference to the hit $40 annual fee Smart Bike Program in Washington, D.C., sharing is on the rise amongst even ‘mainstream’ consumers.

Sure, when times were high, the idea of car-pooling with the guy next door who grows petunias seemed like a nuisance best avoided (“I have to get to my superimportantmeetingnow!”). Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you to Daniel Schutzsmith for this fabulous tip.

Green Printer has interviewed rockstar interactive and strategic marketing, design and development firm Core Industries before (who clients include Live Earth, Pepsi and 1% for the Planet) and has been in touch with Megan MacMurray, Production Designer at the agency.

So, we were excited to learn that the Brooklyn-based MacMurray, along with fellow artist Angela Pablo, showcased her Garden Electric exhibit at the Futuresonic Festival and Conference in Manchester, England. Read the rest of this entry »

A Green Printer “Design Goes Green” dispatch. An interview with Deb Ozarko, Director, Creative Services of Clearly Green Design.

[digg=Being “green”, socially aware and committed to the planet doesn’t mean that design solutions have to be serious and dull]

1. If a client comes to you saying that they want to market themselves as a green company, what kinds of advice would you give them in terms of identity and design?
Before I would give them any advice, I would accurately determine their motives. As both a visual communicator and a social/environmental activist, I have a very large responsibility to the public and the planet – as well as my own personal ethics. Clearly Green Design takes our commitment to the environment, animals and social justice causes very seriously so its critical that we understand the motivating factors for a company before we go any further. A green claim or green identity no longer has the same validity that they used to because of excessive greenwashing. Greenwash is rampant because so many companies have simply jumped on the green bandwagon in order to keep up with the trend. Personally, I find this really sad because there is alot at stake here – namely, planetary survival. A glaring example of greenwash are the green claims made by the Walmart corporation. I honestly don’t know how the folks at the communications agency who market Walmart can sleep at night. Read the rest of this entry »

A www.greenprinteronline.com dispatch

As we are gearing up for week full of interviews from Clearly Green Design and the Futuresonic Festival and Conference (a sneak peek photo of the Futuresonic interview above!), this week’s uber-short post is on some valuable and unique tools for business owners looking to refresh their green marketing efforts.

1. Widgetbox allows you to search for widgets and once you find a good match for your busines, it lets you customize the mini-application and add it to your own Web site or blog. Green Printer even has one too.

2.  Volusion. Because Barack Obama used it in his campaign and well, look where it took him. No seriously, Volusion’s Gold Plan edition offers new social commerce features and affordable plans for tech-savvy entrepreneurs.

3. Besides Google AdWords, Clickable Pro for Advertisers is an affordable and simple online advertising Web service that helps small to medium sized businesses to create and manage search marketing campaigns from a single location.

That’s it! We told you it would be short. Stay tuned for the blog-blitzrieg next week through our “Design Goes Green” series.

By contributing guest author Ida Cheinman, Principal and Creative Director of Substance 151, a strategic design agency for Green Printer‘s “Design Goes Green” series.

We live in a time when “sustainability” is topping the buzzword charts and a wave of greenwashing is flooding the mainstream. We live in a time of intense competition, gloomy economic forecasts and rapidly disappearing marketing budgets, but also in a time when more and more companies and organizations strive to uphold higher environmental and social values, making the shift to the triple bottom line economic model. Sustainability and social responsibility are the forces that drive many of today’s business decisions; they also change the way organizations re-think their branding and marketing strategies. As marketers and business leaders, we are faced with the challenge of finding differentiation by creating empowering and memorable brand experiences for our audiences in the increasingly crowded sustainable marketplace.

So, What are the rules? Read the rest of this entry »

So, the economy is down the tubes and it’s all over the tube.

Why not take this time to incubate your business (from a caterpillar into a butterfly metamorphosis, if you will) and re-invest in your brand.

This is likely a slower client year than most businesses may be used to so lack of time is no excuse not to get started. And money?  When business is scarce for your retail neighbours down the street, consider that suppliers may be more willing than usual to negotiate high volume orders. Read the rest of this entry »

A special guest post by Aaron Schoenberger for Green Printer‘s ‘Design Goes Green’ blog.

A common misconception, one that I’ve seen a thousand times, is the idea that simply printing on recycled mediums, with soy ink, will make one’s marketing materials green. In essence, it’s not only the printing that makes a company green, but also the research and time spent identifying target markets, concocting copy that’s both precise and somewhat vague at the same time, limiting the want to send promotional material to everyone on the planet, and a host of other factors that, if not done properly, will result in a slap on the wrist from good ole’ Mother Earth. Read the rest of this entry »