Improve your sustainable credentials in 2023

It’s a time for New Year’s resolutions, and if you’re anything like us they tend not to last much beyond the first weekend. However, it’s also a good time to make positive business changes that have a bit more longevity. One area many business owners want to address is how they can become more eco-friendly. Sustainability is hugely important: Customers value it, employees desire it, and investors look for it. Here’s a really easy way to make a big impact in 2023: Switch to sustainable printing.

Don’t just take our word for it, research by IBM shows that 51% of global consumers say environmental sustainability is more important to them now than it was 12 months ago. Consumers are looking for sustainable companies, and your sustainability credentials could also affect both investment and recruitment to your business.

The same study reports that 62% of personal investors take sustainability into account in their portfolios, and two out of three respondents said they were more willing to apply for and accept jobs from a sustainable company.

We can’t change your whole business, but using The Sustainable Printworks as your print supplier can help you achieve your sustainability targets, as well as your financial goals.

It’s literally in our name. The Sustainable Printworks is a carbon neutral online printer based in Canterbury. We specialise in producing competitively priced, professional quality and eco-friendly leaflets, banners, customised clothing, and a large range of other printed resources while minimising any environmental impact.

100% of the paper we print on in our production facilities is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). We recycle over 98% of our waste, we use green energy, and we only work with environmentally conscious suppliers. On average we plant one tree per day which helps remove over 27 tons of carbon emissions each year.

We are a carbon-neutral business as certified by Carbon Neutral Britain, a project that helps businesses offset their emissions.

Through this initiative we support a number of projects that range from reforesting the Nicaraguan Rainforest to planting over 2 million trees to transform the landscape and improve the prospects of the Marston Vale

We insist on working with suppliers who meet the highest standards, across our whole range. Be that ensuring any paper we use comes from sustainable sources or that we only use biodegradable eco-solvent inks.

You can be sure that whatever you order meets the highest standard.

If you’re looking to give your marketing a boost, perhaps attend some events, or acquire new customers then the printed material you use says a lot about your business. A well-produced and written flyer or mailing has even more impact if you’re able to say it was sustainably produced. An eye-catching, eco-friendly roller banner or even a branded t-shirt will resonate with your customers even more if you can talk about the sustainable plastics used to produce them.

Here are some of our favourite products, with a bit of detail behind their sustainable credentials.

Our flyers are made from 100% FSC-certified pulp, and printed using vegetable-based inks and recyclable toner.

FSC stands for the Forestry Stewardship Council. It's an international non-profit organisation formed in 1993 to introduce a certification system to uphold benchmark standards for sustainable forestry and paper production.

Now that you know where the paper comes from, a bit about the ink: We use vegetable-based inks as an alternative to petroleum-based products. There are a number of economic and environmental issues with petroleum-based products, not least that petroleum-based inks are known to release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to global warming. On the other hand, vegetable inks are a sustainable and less harmful alternative that also produce great results on the page.

We’re not just about paper and ink, one of our most popular products is the eco-friendly roller banner, which is made from PVC-free polypropylene.

According to Greenpeace PVC is the single most environmentally damaging type of plastic, but thanks to everyday consumers demanding change, it’s finally becoming less common.

Not only are these banners completely recyclable without losing durability or quality, but we also print using biodegradable eco-solvent inks. As part of our service, we can recycle the entire unit once you are finished - or we can reskin it for you for less than the cost of purchasing a new one.

We're helping to turn the UK's plastic waste into fashion. On average it takes seven plastic bottles to make a t-shirt. Our recycled, ethically-sourced and carbon-neutral t-shirts are comfortable, machine washable and can be printed in full colour.

Nationwide, we use 7.7 billion plastic bottles per year. That's an average of 117 bottles per person, per year, and plastic waste is one of the biggest environmental issues we face.

How do you make T-shirts from bottles? Well, the process uses the cuttings from organic cotton textile production, shreds them and turns them back into soft cotton fibres, these are then mixed with fibres made from recycled plastic bottles.

Sustainability does not mean a loss of quality, we can even print vivid colours on top of coloured fabric by applying a layer of white underneath to make your designs really stand out. And of course, once you've worn out your t-shirt, you can just recycle it again!

Printed material from renewable sources is a really high-impact way to reach customers and demonstrate your genuine commitment to sustainability. It’s also really easy to do very quickly, sustainable printing does not mean compromising on quality or price. There’s no need to open an account, or commit to a minimum order, give us a try now and find out how you can boost your company’s sustainability credentials, achieve great cut-through with customers, and maybe even save money.