Practise “green” graphic design
Ok so graphic design is not exactly the same as park ranging, but I’m well aware if we are to maintain our planet’s current grandeur and beauty, we must implement environmentally and socially responsible design practice.
After researching the topic, I have compiled a short list of ideas and concepts designed to improve the sustainability in your professional practice:
- Power your website with an environmentally responsible hosting service such as Digital Pacific. Digital Pacific’s servers are eco powered reducing our carbon footprint (emissions).
- Join The Designers Accord, a global creative community established as a knowledge network for design firms who are keen to share how they improve sustainability in their practices.
- Introduce the environment to your studio with indoor plants. Indoor plants not only help absorb indoor pollution, but they have an added benefit of reducing stress and fatigue.
- Ditch the LCD monitor and replace with an energy saving LED backlit display.
- Are you using refillable pens and pencils? Choose eco friendly art supplies where you can – why not introduce recycled sketch books, soy crayons, plant-based paints, bamboo paint brushes, FSC-certified pencils and recycled paper to the drafting room?
- Try not bleeding your design to the edges by leaving a blank border around your design. This will reduce ink usage and allow more of the paper to be recycled.
- Minimise the materials used in your projects lessening resources consumed and waste produced. Use a smaller paper size and amounts of ink colours. Less space will be used during shipping and delivery.
- Printing locally and using locally recycled materials will reduce your transportation carbon footprint.
- Consider if you have to print and if you do, choose eco-friendly paper which is free of chlorine bleached fibres such as PCF (Process Chlorine Free), TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) or ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free). Ensure that your paper comes from a paper mill that has EMS certification – ISO 14001 or EMAS are good indicators. Lastly, look if the paper has arrived from a sustainably managed timber plantation by spotting the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification.
- Print digitally for small runs – uses 100% non-toxic toner and produces less chemical waste.
- Introduce a workplace recycling program reducing the amount of rubbish in our landfills.
- Minimise artificial climate control. Wear layered clothing or design your studio to enable you to open the windows.
- Educate your clients about the life cycle of their projects.
- Collaborate with eco-minded people.
What about you; how are you doing your bit?