Let’s contribute to making a greener environment

We all know that environmental pollution is one of the biggest concerns in most of the cities and towns in our country. This mayhem is primarily caused due to contaminants from different sources such as manufacturing industries, motor vehicles, improper waste disposals and others. Since we are being part of an industry where our machines, materials and production process have certain impact on the environment, it is our sole responsibility to find ways of reducing that impact.

Government has taken up a series of steps to address all issues related to environmental pollution. Of them, the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) is a futuristic approach to reduce air pollution in big metros like Delhi. Centre has launched the ‘EV@30 Campaign’ to set a collective goal for all EVI (Electric Vehicle Initiative) members in the world, which includes India, to have electric vehicles contribute to around 30 percent of all vehicle sales by 2030. Now it’s our turn to contribute our share in the move with a sustainable future approach!

Here the idea is about print service providers (PSPs) to create environmentally sustainable production facilities where they use only eco-friendly printing machines, technologies and consumables, so that they can build up the momentum of carrying their overall production process and activities towards an increasingly greener direction. In addition, it is essential for them to implement sustainable in-plant practices and processes, encouraging and facilitating recyclability of finished materials.

When it comes to printing inks, it is highly important to use low VOC (volatile organic compound) UV-curing inks and Latex inks. It is important for two reasons—first, for reducing risk associated with HAPs (hazardous air pollutants) and secondly, for safety of machine operators. Other than UV-curable inks, which we take as ‘green’ alternatives to traditional solvent inks (because they feature reduced VOCs and other pollutants), there are plenty of eco-friendly options available in water-based inks that have no impact on environment.

What about media? Remember, not all wide-format printing materials are as eco-friendly as paper. Many media are petroleum-based. It means that they are made from non-renewable resources, unlike trees. These non-degradable printing materials create problem in landfills too. However, there are media available in recyclable grades, which are paper-based and some are compostable backlit & cling substrates. Every PSP must be encouraged to recycle them when the products reach their end-of-life. After all, fabric is a foremost futuristic option for green printing.

In this issue, we have Bengaluru under the Region Exclusive column. PSPs in this city contribute their share to saving environment from pollution as they use only non-PVC media. This is third time we cover Bengaluru, a city where dwelled some of the country’s most reputed signage companies, which are growing by leaps and bounds with advanced machines, media and technologies.