How much does an email weigh?

There is a lingering sense that anything printed on paper can’t possibly be sustainable. Perhaps it’s because of those little messages at the bottom of so many emails saying “please don’t print this”. Of course printing out an email is probably not the most environmentally friendly thing you will ever do, but that un-printed email has a carbon footprint all of its own.

According to Mike Berners-Lee (brother of Sir Tim, son of Mary and Conway…imagine a game of trivial pursuit in that family!) in his book ‘How Bad are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything’ (2020), an email has a carbon footprint of anywhere between 0.03g and 26g. It all depends on attachments, pictures, signatures, and of course how many people read it.

It might not seem much but 306 billion emails were sent in 2021 and that is expected to top 376 billion in 2025. The environmental cost of digital communications is only really beginning to be counted, and with data centres accounting for 2% of the U.S. annual energy use, it’s a significant number.

Why on earth are we, a sustainable printing company, talking about emails? Indeed, you’re almost certainly reading this via an internet connection, so why all the tech-phobia?

Well, we wouldn’t dream of suggesting that you ditch digital communications, but it is important that we know the impact every part of our business has on the environment. Customers increasingly look to do business with companies that are able to clearly state their sustainability credentials, something that is also true of investors and potential employers.

So how can you swiftly make a change to reduce your impact on the environment?

(You guessed it!)

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.

What this means is that you can assure your customers that you have thoroughly looked in to the supply chain and the effect on the environment of your printing.

To illustrate further, let examine one of our most popular products:

There’s really no substitute for something tangible that you can actually hand to a customer. We often have under 30 seconds to make an impression, and a well-produced and designed printed flyer can demonstrate your company’s unique selling points, whilst also demonstrating you’ve put some time and effort into communicating with a potential customer.

Here are some reasons why our sustainable flyers reduce your impact on the environment.

1.Consideration

We wouldn’t be giving any secrets away by saying that a flyer is more expensive than an email, but in this is a significant environmental advantage. As we saw earlier part of the impact of emails is that it’s really easy to send thousands, if not millions, a day, each with their own varying carbon footprint.

Because you have to consider the design, cost and volume of flyers, how they will be used and who will receive them, you are likely to buy fewer and be more targeted in their use. By using the Sustainable Printworks you will also know that every part of that production process has been accounted for, the most sustainable options used, and any impact offset.

2. Sustainably sourced paper

100% of the paper we print on in our production facilities is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC works with companies all over the world to ensure sustainable sourcing from forest to consumer. By planting more trees than are used and ensuring only the most sustainable sources are harvested, printing on paper can actually contribute to increasing the number of trees in the world.

3. Reduce, reuse, recycle

It’s a slogan we’ve all heard, and for us it’s underpins everything we do. We recycle over 98% of our waste, we use green energy, and we only work with environmentally conscious suppliers. Which means, if you use us, your company does all that too.

4. Innovative processes

We insist on working with suppliers who meet the highest standards, so you can be sure that whatever you order does too. Even the ink that we use are biodegradable and eco-solvent.

5. Certified Carbon neutral

We are a carbon-neutral business as certified by Carbon Neutral Britain, a project that helps businesses balance 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. On average we plant one tree per day which helps remove over 27 tons of carbon emissions each year.

By now you might be thinking this all sounds great, but I bet carbon neutrality and special inks costs a lot more. Well, our customers find that we are not any more expensive than their previous printers, and we would modestly claim that our customer service and attention to detail puts us a bit ahead of the rest.

One thing that wont cost a penny is to give us a call and find out how we can, and how, along the way, helping the planet doesn’t have to cost the Earth.