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1) Understand your impacts. Look at where paper is sourced, how
much is recycled, and how much is FSC certified. To better understand
the social/environmental impacts of the book industry and
potential solutions, refer to the Toolkit on Responsible Paper
Use for Printers.
2) Craft an internal paper policy (view
sample policy), following the goals
developed by industry counterparts, as stated in the Treatise on
Environmentally Responsible Publishing . You may
also refer to the
Paper Use Guidance for Printers.
3) Support an industry wide transition to environmentally responsible paper by signing the Book Industry Treatise on Environmentally Responsible Publishing.
4) Develop a baseline measurement. Determine how much recycled (postconsumer
and preconsumer) fiber you use as a percentage of your overall
tonnage. The most direct measure looks at total number of pounds
or tons of recycled fiber used: not just amount of paper with
recycled content.
5) If you are already FSC-certified, you will have to track that
fiber usage. For information on becoming an FSC-certified
printer and tracking, visit the
FSC
Certification website. To understand the steps more fully
visit the
Rainforest Alliance Conserving Forestlands website.
6) Look for ways to minimize impacts on global warming (in
addition to maximizing use of environmentally responsible
paper). For details on the book industry’s impacts on climate
change, and ways to minimize these impacts see the Book industry Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts Report, or the Guide for
Reducing Climate Impacts.
7) Communicate your environmental policy objectives to your
distributors, mills and merchants. Make sure they understand
that you expect them to help you meet your goals.
8) Communicate your
environmental objectives and paper policy to your customers.
9) Analyze your customer's paper preferences and proactively make
suggestions for substitutions of environmental papers over
virgin sheets whenever possible.
10) Make one of these eco sheets the house sheet and make volume
commitments as a strategy for reducing costs and ideally
reaching price parity.
11) Make sure that your customer service representatives are informed and understand the
internal commitment. Train them to be proactive in urging eco
sheets as substitutes.
12) Use your green initiative to distinguish your operation from
other non-environmental printers.
13) Continue to track progress on minimizing environmental
impacts and periodically assess what additional actions can be
taken.
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