The perception that electronic media
leaves less of an environmental footprint than printed material was just one of
the myths debunked at the seminar, hosted by Dalton Fine Paper and Scandinavian-based
paper company StoraEnso, and held at Heidelberg's head office.

Phillip Lawrence, sustainable business
manager for StoraEnso said, "Putting ink on paper is one of the most
environmentally responsible ways you can get your message across", and
quoted numerous figures on forestry, paper production and printing to support
his case.

"For an industry that gets regularly
slammed for its supposedly poor eco-credentials, this is excellent news and we
should be sharing it with our customers", said Lawrence.

Lawrence and
fellow speaker Gerry Gillespie, chairman of ZeroWaste Australia, challenged
the industry to maintain its leadership role in finding solutions to these
issues, with Gillespie outlining creative systems for the processing of paper
and other organic waste into agri-products to improve soil quality.

Gillespie
said, "By exploring options like these the printing industry has an
enormous opportunity to contribute to Australia's future
sustainability".

The response from more than 50
attendees, covering a broad cross section of specifiers including designers and
ad agency staff and eco-savvy printers like Print Bound, who printed the
invitation for the event, was overwhelmingly positive and lively discussion
ensued for nearly an hour at the conclusion of the function.

Oh, and the figures on those other
media?

Producing a CD or DVD will generate
some 300-350g of CO2, not including the carbon generated every time you view it,
compared with 60-70g to produce an average newspaper or 80g for a 100 page
annual report.

Now there's a story…

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