I just came across a great read on how best to use Green technology and papers effectively and affordably. Unfortunately the file is too big to post here. I will gladly share it with anyone who asks. Just send me an email to jmunro@munrographics.com
I’m going to depart from the recycling theme a little to talk about the idea of supporting local business and how that ties in with being “green”
I grew up in the Leave it to Beaver generation. My parents worked for the same good company all their lives. We had one car and one bathroom and both parents were home at 5 o’clock because their job was only 1 mile from home. That was pretty normal in those years. Folks worked where they lived and because of that they cared about their community. It wasn’t just a place to sleep and go to soccer games. They had a vested interest in it.
People had a butcher and a baker and a milk man and an undertaker. You knew these people. You socialized with them, you worshipped with them and you depended on them and they depended on you. And as kids we knew that they were part of our community and we could go to them if we were hurt or scared.
Somehow, those days disappeared when we weren’t looking. First the mega grocery stores came, then the malls and then the big box stores. Price became the driving factor for every purchase. We were saddened when we saw the butcher close his doors but after all he was expensive. When the druggist finally had to give up, we said the same thing. I guess we forgot about how he gave the family credit when dad was out of work or that Christmas eve that he came by with a prescription before he went home. We don’t need the guy who owned the hardware store anymore. After all he was expensive with his quality goods and we don’t need to have him bill us anymore for that dozen wood screws becaus we can charge it at the big orange place.
I’m sure you get my point but there is so much more to say about what the loss of local business does to communities. Money spent at a local business is re-invested locally. Local business owners are much more likely to join Rotary and Kiwanis and give willingly of their time. They are also much more likely to purchase locally. I’m a small local business owner. I depend on the local guy because the big orange store isn’t likely to use my services and the big office supply place is my competition so where’s the justice there.
Local businesses are part of the community. They hire your neighbors and your neighbors kids. They help build schools and playgrounds, host summer concerts and raise money for your kids education.
Buy local! Help keep your community strong and green!
The second R in the Green Business formula stands for Re-use. Or as I saw recently on one of the Cable TV design shows, “repurpose”. Don’t you hate it when someone has to re-invent an already complicated language?
Re-use is a pretty straight forward process. At Munro Graphics we re-use in one fashion or another all packaging that we receive. Boxes are saved and re-used either for storage or as delivery containers. Ream wrappers are often not recyclable so we flatten them and reuse them as packaging material to keep odd size bundles from bouncing around in the carton on the UPS truck. To be honest I really hate to get a package that is full of styrofoam peanuts, especially at this time of year. There is so much static in the air that when you open the box those things stick to everything so we just pack them up and send them along like a chain letter to the next unsuspecting recipient. They say styrofoam lasts forever so there is no good reason to use it just once.
Re-using doesn’t just apply to the printing business. Remember the 70’s when every family room was paneled in Barn Board? Well real barn board comes from real barns! It may have gone out of style but the principle is the same. Many people want to remodel their homes and have perfectly good appliances and fixtures. These costly items can be re-used by others. I have become a great advocate for buying used. It’s good for your wallet and good for the planet. When you buy used appliances, construction material or furniture, you are saving money, saving space in your local landfill and just think about the energy that is saved by manufacturing one less big bulky item. Check out Craigslist, Freecycle and your local Salvation Army Store or maybe your local charity has a thrift store as well.
That’s right! After 22 years in Methuen at the same location we are moving to Lawrence Massachusetts. As of March 1 we will be located on the fifth floor of 60 Island Street. The building was actually built as a textile mill in the 1800’s and most recently was the Majestic Shoe factory. It’s owned by two really visionary developers, Chet and Gary Sidell. They have a website for the building if you want to see it.
Lawrence was my hometown. For many years it was frankly in a state of serious decline but thanks to many hard working people it is coming back better than ever. There is a diverse business and residential community. New jobs are coming and people from the burbs are moving into newly renovated loft space. I see it as the Cambridge of the Merrimack Valley.
We are really excited about this move. We outgrew our existing space awhile ago and we will be nearly doubling our space but even more importantly it will be wide open and much better for our work.
Please if you are in the area come visit so we can give you a tour of our new home and city.
Some may consider it trite but at this time of year you can’t help reflecting on those customers and acqaintances that help, in one way or another to make your business successful.
I am fortunate to be a member of an awesome BNI chapter. Many of the members are friends as well as referral partners and those referrals add significantly to my bottom line.
Equally important though are the lessons you learn from other business people that you are in relationship with. Some are vendors, some are customers and some are just folks from your extended network. People like Bob Wescott from Copilabs in Lawrence MA. Bob is a Kyocera dealer and has a long track record of great customer service and integrity. And Anne Seed, Anne has been in the industry as long as I have. She was a typesetter when we still used type instead of electonic bits and bytes. Anne has a heart of gold and is generous to a fault. She is always there when you have a rush job at the last minute. Finally there’s the folks in the local non-profit sector that I am priviledged to work with. They are kind, hard working and underpaid. They also are loyal! They appreciate good service and readily refer coleagues to me.
Thanks to all of you!
We here a lot these days about being “green”. Basically I interpret the concept as using sustainable practices in your home or business. I like to refer to sustainability as the three R’s—Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.
Let’s talk about the first R–Reduce. Reducing as it pertains to the print industry normally refers to packaging, that is using the minimum amount of packaging to deliver the finished product to the customer but still maintaining professional standards. We achieve that by using appropriate size boxes that will protect the finished product, be convenient for the client to store and will not look lousy if they store it in a visible location.
Reducing also applies to how a printed piece is actually produced. Traditional offset printing involves a multitude of pre-press steps. In a worst case scenario once a job has been designed or laid out a printed paper proof will be mailed or hand carried to the client for approval. After approval color separated film must be produced. Film production requires heavy metal developers and fixers which end up in land fills or waste treatment facilities. Once the film is made aluminum printing plates are exposed, mounted to the press and the printing process begins. Traditional print methods require set up and color balancing which wastes paper.
As an alternative to the traditional wasteful methods described above, I prefer to use digital printing. Proofs are usually delivered to the client as pdf files via email. Approval is usually quick and easy and the final files are printed electronically to our digital copiers and printers. There is minimum waste and maximum customer satisfaction.
Have you ever been confused by the extensions to graphic files? Do you think it’s a foreign language akin to ancient sumerian when someone has asked you to send an .eps or a .tif?
Well all the different graphic file formats have very distinct purposes and it’s important to ask your printer or web developer which format they need and at what resolution.
Files with extensions like .bmp, .gif and .jpg typically are used for web pages and for low resolution flyers but are not generally suitable for high resolution printing.
As a general rule of thumb your printer will likely prefer that you provide him with an .eps file for any logos that you want to incorporate into your printed piece. EPS files provide the most reliable reproduction and are universally accepted within the industry and are compatible with all page layout software.
When you have a logo designed you should receive multiple electronic copies of it in a multitude of formats. Don’t lose them. They all have a purpose and you’ll be really proud of yourself when you can access them whenever they are needed.
Welcome to my Blog. This is a brand new thing for me but I’ve been given good advice by some friends to try it.
My name is Jim Munro and I own a growing little company called Munro Graphics Commercial Printers. We provide print solutions for non-profits and small businesses primarily in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts but we have customers all over the east coast as well as eastern Canada.
I’ll be using this blog to talk about trends in the printing industry, changes and improvements at Munro Graphics Commercial Printers as well as sharing good stories about my friends and my awesome customers.
