eco-friendly printing

"Paper is a tremendously resource-intensive product to produce," explains project manager Victoria Mills, "and the decomposition of paper in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide."

Ever wondered how much energy and thought it took to produce that shiny brochure your marketing staff handed to you this week? And no, it’s not just the brand and visual design genius we’re talking about.

The big names cannot help but pump out more sustainable paper products on an almost weekly basis. From biology college textbooks gone green to carbon friendly greeting cards, we’ve rounded up the top ten green papier goods that caught our eye.

We’ve come this far in our exasperation with junk mail-apalooza and now people are luring us with cold, hard cash (or the beauty of planting a tree) to get us to stop receiving virgin-forest-eating junk mail.

Even lawyers are realizing their impact on their environment. No seriously, lawyers are sharp enough to know that using all that virgin paper cannot be good to the environment. But when it comes to driving internal sustainability initiatives? Many still respond by: "we recycle". Period.

To give an idea of how far we have progressed since the original advocates pressed for electronic recycling programs, Wal-Mart is calling for more uniform U.S. guidelines regarding consumer electronics, energy consumption and recycling.

We ask design guru Nate Burgos, named Fast Company’s debut "Fast 50 Champions of Innovation", to reflect on how the Internet changed how designers 'make connections' and why government and 'big business' should care about environmental sustainability and design activism. Here's what the ever quotable Burgos said...

So, for all you energizer bunnies out there, here are a few tips from Montreal based Vivace Design ‘ s Karine Himbeault that, incidentally, we found take 60 seconds or less to actually carry out. Oh and Vivace Design produced a stunning portfolio following their advice. Gone gorgeous green in less than 60? Read on.

I caught the "story of stuff": a 20-minute, fast-paced look at the dark underbelly of our consumption patterns. The clip exposes the links between a host of environmental and social issues while showing you the real cost of that $5 radio (metals from South Africa, 14 years olds from the Congo dropping out of school to work in factories...).

1. Less is more. If you’re smart, you can say a lot with very little. 2. Green goes black. For website design, the “opposite is the rule”: black is the new green. 3. More really is more.There is one place in the world of greening your business where more really is more.

Think jumping on the “environmental-Armageddon-is-upon-us-we-are-doing something-about-it-hear-me-roar” business bandwagon will be easy? Think again.

Conservative bloggers denounce US Congresses' move to replace CFLs as a mercury health hazard and a "High Priest Al Gore of the Church of Global Warming of Modern Day Idiots (MDI)" falsity while of course, sourcing the "science" behind their claim as, what else, another conservative blogger's opinion.

LATEST in CFL Debate: No Actual Data on CFL migraine scare in The Daily Green

If you do just one thing...

Engage your suppliers to minimize the environmental impacts of the products they supply to you.

(Image source: http://blog.americanfeast.com)

If your post-holiday cheer and spending has put you in a slump about how to jumpstart your New Year's resolution to make your business run more efficient and tree-friendly for less (and who doesn't?), Ilana DeBare from the San Francisco Chronicle has the solution.

A tip from BC Buzz (www.bcbuzz.ca): decorating with LED Christmas lights uses 95% less energy than traditional lights and last more than 10 times longer.