The Green Graph (Expo)
By Gail Nickel-Kailing on October 29th, 2008
I fully expected every booth at this year’s Graph Expo to be painted green, but the environmental message was more subtle over all.
Some companies, Fujifilm for example, embraced the green theme and used it as the core color for their booth. Others, like Lime Energy, are green by the nature of the services they provide; they help companies be green by managing their energy consumption.
There has been much discussion about which toners and inks are green. Océ has developed Crystal Points, a solid toner that is applied with a form of inkjet technology. The ink comes in little balls – looking like little marbles – and is converted into a gel and sprayed on to the substrate.
In a really smart twist, Océ has designed the toner cartridge package so it can be inserted into the machine and used as a waste toner collector. When the toner cartridge is empty, the cartridge, the cartridge package, and any waste toner is simply recycled.
Toner manufacturers, like Xeikon, are making sure their users understand the green benefits of their products. Xeikon outlined eight ways that its dry toner is eco-friendly:
- VOC-free
- Printed paper is recyclable
- “SWAN” label compliant – meets the criteria of Nordic Ecolable
- No dangerous chemicals
- Waste efficient production
- Energy efficient production
- OEKO-TEX label compliant
- Toy printing compliant
There’s lots more coming, stay tuned for more Green Graph!
2 Responses to “The Green Graph (Expo)”
By Matt D> on Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
That seems like a really neat idea that Ocè came up with. I think that a big part of the green future isn’t necessarily going to come from making products out of greener materials but from finding a way make processes more ecologically friendly.
By Vic Barkin on Oct 31, 2008 | Reply
You’ve hit the nail right on the head. While there were those inherently “green” companies (at least from their own marketing perspective), most are touting their products’ and services’ benefits, such as greater efficiencies, less energy use and reduced waste as their main selling points (not to mention innovation).
Green is a big part of the equation, but what Graph Expo proved to me more than anything, is that the “normalization” of green into everything we do is inevitable.