Future is green at PacPrint Forum 2

Print’s environmental experts offer tips for a cleaner, greener industry.

Led by futurist and strategist Dr Peter Ellyard, (pictured) the second PacPrint forum looked at future strategies, with particular focus on climate change and the environment, focussing on issues facing print and communications businesses and the industry today.

“The encouraging news is that we are already more than halfway towards the solution because we have a global dialogue which addresses world issues in a way which would have been unthinkable even a generation ago,” Dr Ellyard said. “The challenge is to be part of the new green economy and, for you, to ask yourselves how does print fit in to the overall scheme?”

Answering that question, and offering their own insights, were the day’s three panellists, David Fuller from Focus Press, Rodney Wade from Finsbury Green and Phil Lawrence from Ecological Strategies, who pointed to the advances already made by the industry and the advantages gained by ‘green’ business practices.

 “We have consistently found that our highest return on investment is for environmental initiatives,” said David Fuller. “Whenever we have invested in more sustainable processes we have reaped the benefits in the savings we have achieved by eliminating harmful products, minimising waste, or reusing or recycling necessary by-products.

“I think it is important to change our whole strategic approach, to stop worrying only about the end product and to think more about what goes into it. While I don’t know if zero impact on the environment is realistic, it is a goal we can work towards.”

Phil Lawrence agreed, but pointed out that, in fact, the industry had already come pretty close to a ‘zero target’, achieving a staggering 97 per cent reduction in its environmental footprint since the ‘Kyoto zero year’ of 1990.

“In that same time, the greenhouse gas generated by the average family television set has increased tenfold,” Lawrence told the audience. “Try and name one other industry that has done more than print and paper to improve their performance – it’s impossible.”

Despite these advances, and the industry’s excellent track record, many still feel the path of environmental reform is a fairly “lonely journey”, according to Rodney Wade, who raised the possibility of a more collective approach from all participants in the industry.